Back in December we reported on a new type of Gonorrhoea that had become immune to the normal course of antibiotics usually taken to treat it.
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The first case of this was in Leeds and was also reported in other northern areas such as Oldham, Macclesfield and Scunthorpe. Although it sounded super scary at the time, we kind of thought it had just died down and maybe it was all a bit of media hype.
However, I think you guys should know that it has been spreading and the new strain has now been found in the West Midlands, north and south east of England. Wuh-oh.
‘Super-Gonorrhoea’ cannot be treated by the regular antibiotic azithromycin, meaning doctors are currently relying on a second drug ceftriaxone to give patients instead. This doesn’t sound so bad, but medical experts are saying that it can easily become resistant to this drug also in no time, which would leave sufferers with an untreatable strain of the sexually transmitted disease.
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Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of Public Health England (PHE), said:
Fortunately, the current outbreak strain can still be treated with ceftriaxone.
Nonetheless, we know that the bacterium that causes gonorrhoea can rapidly develop resistance to other antibiotics that are used for treatment, so we cannot afford to be complacent.
If strains of gonorrhoea emerge that are resistant to both azithromycin and ceftriaxone treatment options would be limited as there is currently no new antibiotic available to treat the infection.
There have been 34 cases confirmed since November, and 11 of these are from the West Midlands and the south of England. Obviously this number is thought to be a lot more due to people that are unaware that they have the infection.
Obviously medical experts are warning people more than ever to use protection but I know you guys are a sensible lot anyway right? So remember, put something on the end of it. We don’t want some mega, super-strength STD to be the end of human civilisation — we’ve got enough to worry about as it is. Like the fact that Donald Trump could become the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the entire world.
