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Gonorrhea Could Be Untreatable
New strain of ‘super Gonorrhoea’ means the sexually transmitted disease could be untreatable
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THE UK’S chief medical officer has warned that one of the world’s oldest sexually transmittable diseases could eventually become untreatable.
Dame Sally Davies said that Gonorrhoea could become untreatable, and has written to GPs and pharmacies to ensure they are prescribing the correct drugs for it, the BBC reports.
Her concerns about the disease comes after cases of “super-Gonorrhoea” emerged in Leeds earlier this year.
“Gonorrhoea is at risk of becoming an untreatable disease due to the continuing emergence of antimicrobial resistance,” Dame Davies wrote.
“It is therefore extremely important that suboptimal treatment does not occur.”
Some patients are also not getting the right antibiotics needed to clear the infection.
A study by Public Health England this year revealed doctors were still prescribing the antibiotic ciprofloxacin for the disease even though it has not been recommended since 2005.
“We know that Gonorrhoea is resistant to quite a lot of antibiotics and does develop resistance quite rapidly to new antibiotics as well,” lead author of the study Dr. Gwenda Hughes said.
“The problem is obviously that if people are prescribing the wrong antibiotics, the patient won’t be effectively treated.”
PHE also found 16 cases of the super strain that is resistant to the antibiotic known as azithromycin, which is one of the few antibiotics known to treat the disease.
While ceftriaxone and azithromycin are meant to be used in combination with each other, every case is circumstantial.
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http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/hea...baffea7d1d188c
Play safe sistrens
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