Sorry, everybody, but incurable gonorrhea is now a real thing.
According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients in a Canadian clinic have proven resistant to cephalosporins, a form of oral antibiotic traditionally used to treat the disease.
And the news gets worse, says US News and World Report:
Last year, both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control warned that untreatable gonorrhea—the world's second most common sexually transmitted infection—could soon be a reality as the bacteria showed increasing resistance to cephalosporins in lab tests.
"These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," Allen says. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is."
Gonorrhea currently affects as many as 700,000 Americans every year. For now, at least, the problem seems to have been contained by using a stronger antibiotic, ceftriaxone. But lest that put your mind at ease, the story leaves us with little reason for optimism.
"I think without a doubt this will become a bigger problem," Allen says. "The next threat is when, not if, the same thing happens with ceftriaxone. And then what?"
Of all the
word pairings you’d hate to see upon waking up in the morning, I’d wager that “incurable gonorrhea” rates near the top.According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients in a Canadian clinic have proven resistant to cephalosporins, a form of oral antibiotic traditionally used to treat the disease.
And the news gets worse, says US News and World Report:
Last year, both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control warned that untreatable gonorrhea—the world's second most common sexually transmitted infection—could soon be a reality as the bacteria showed increasing resistance to cephalosporins in lab tests.
"These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," Allen says. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is."
Gonorrhea currently affects as many as 700,000 Americans every year. For now, at least, the problem seems to have been contained by using a stronger antibiotic, ceftriaxone. But lest that put your mind at ease, the story leaves us with little reason for optimism.
"I think without a doubt this will become a bigger problem," Allen says. "The next threat is when, not if, the same thing happens with ceftriaxone. And then what?"
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