Gonorrhea To Become Untreatable Soon? Drugs For Treatment Ineffective Against The Sexually Transmitted Disease

Experts are worried that gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease that affects both men and women, will become untreatable soon. A recent report found that certain drugs against the disease are losing their effectiveness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed last week that the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria may have become resistant to two drugs that can treat gonorrhea. The said drugs are azithromycin and ceftriaxone, which are combined to cure the STD.

Stronger Resistance Against Gonorrhea

According to CDC's report, obtained gonorrhea samples showed a 2.5 percent (from 0.6 percent) resistance to azithromycin. For ceftriaxone, there's a 0.8 percent resistance compared to the previously reported 0.4 percent.

Dr. Robert Kirkcaldy, one of the report's authors, said that the bacteria's resistance to the drugs may be minuscule, but it still causes alarm among the scientific community. Kirkcaldy said there might be "potential for untreatable gonorrhea" in the future, STAT reported.

Gonorrhea is considered as a common type of STD, usually occurring among the young population from ages 15 to 24, the CDC wrote. Gonorrhea is transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Pregnant women infected with the disease can transfer it to her unborn child as well.

According to CDC's estimations, around 820,000 new gonorrhea infections occur in the U.S. annually. Out of that number, 570,000 cases are people range from the age of 15-24.

If left untreated, gonorrhea can spread into the infected woman's uterus and fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID. For men, untreated gonorrhea could lead to epididymitis. Other complications include infertility and the more dangerous blood and joint infection.

Reason Why Gonorrhea Resistant To Drugs Stump Scientists

Kirkcaldy said they don't exactly know how gonorrhea evades the drugs' effects, adding that the "bug is so smart and can mutate so rapidly," STAT further reported. Doctors in the U.S. are already combining azithromycin and ceftriaxone as treatment for gonorrhea. The medical community is hoping that teaming up those drugs together will prolong their period of effectiveness.

Some companies are working on developing new drugs against gonorrhea, but that process will take years to be completed. In the meantime, Kirkcaldy advised people -- especially sexually active ones -- to be more careful and to use necessary precautions like latex condoms during sex.

The United Kingdom is seeing high cases of gonorrhea and syphilis recently. In 2015, the Public Health England, or PHE, recorded 411,932 people infected with gonorrhea. That number is a 10 percent increase from the cases recorded in 2014, Tech Times reported.