Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Is Sexually Transmitted Gonorrhea Becoming a 'Superbug?'
Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer,
LiveScience.com ? Wed Apr 20, 11
The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is increasingly developing resistance to all of the antibiotics we have to treat it in the United States, researchers warn.
In 2009, nearly a quarter of strains tested in a nationwide surveillance project of gonorrhea were resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, or a combination of these antibiotics that are typically used to treat the STD. And early data from 2010 indicate resistance to another type of antibiotic, cephalosporin, is emerging.
That's concerning because cephalosporins are the only class of antibiotic left that doctors recommend to treat the disease.
"This may be the harbinger of things to come," Dr. Kimberly Workowski, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of STD Prevention, said of the early 2010 data. "The resistance may be getting worse," Workowski told MyHealthNewsDaily.
Read more
Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer,
LiveScience.com ? Wed Apr 20, 11
The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is increasingly developing resistance to all of the antibiotics we have to treat it in the United States, researchers warn.
In 2009, nearly a quarter of strains tested in a nationwide surveillance project of gonorrhea were resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, or a combination of these antibiotics that are typically used to treat the STD. And early data from 2010 indicate resistance to another type of antibiotic, cephalosporin, is emerging.
That's concerning because cephalosporins are the only class of antibiotic left that doctors recommend to treat the disease.
"This may be the harbinger of things to come," Dr. Kimberly Workowski, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of STD Prevention, said of the early 2010 data. "The resistance may be getting worse," Workowski told MyHealthNewsDaily.
Read more