Gonorrhea acquires resistance to antibiotic treatment
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The findings, which were made by WHO representatives after analyzing information on 77 countries, indicate that gonorrhea is gradually acquiring resistance even to modern antimicrobial agents.
In some cases, the infection becomes poorly curable, or almost incurable.
"The causative agent that causes gonorrhea has a great degree of adaptation. Any use of new antibacterial agents is a kind of testing that entails the development of the next variant of resistance, "the World Health Organization spokesman, Theodora Vee, said.
The conclusions of the scientists consist in the fact that the gonorrhea causative agent of the Neicerium gonorrhoeae is also resistant to the antibiotics of the first generation. On the territory of developed countries in a large number of strains are found, almost "not killed" by usual antibiotic therapy. According to Professor Wie, such cases are just the beginning, gaining momentum. Many states simply do not report the emergence of resistance to an infection, and it is not possible to analyze such information.
According to statistics of the World Health Organization, at least 78 million patients with gonococcal infection are registered in the world every year. The causative agent of gonorrhea affects the digestive and reproductive system, the upper respiratory tract.
Women suffer from gonococcal infection most - the consequences of the disease can be, both infertility and ectopic pregnancy development. In addition, patients significantly increase the risk of joining HIV infection .
The high incidence of gonorrhea is associated with the practice of unprotected sex, with increasing travel to distant countries, as well as with insufficiently developed diagnostics and illiterate treatment in selected countries of the world.
So what can be cured of the disease today?
A special program was carried out, during which specialists fixed the resistance of gonorrhea to the effects of ciprofloxacin (in 97% of cases, from 2009 to 2014).
According to other available information, resistance to the action of Azithromycin has increased by more than 80%, as well as by almost 70% to cephalosporin antibiotics with a broad spectrum of action (for example, Ceftriaxone or Cefixime).
At the present time, doctors of many countries use cephalosporin antibiotics to treat the disease. And this, in spite of the fact that in more than 50 countries there was a loss of sensitivity of the gonorrheal pathogen to such drugs. Already for several years, Ceftriaxon and Cefixim persistently "surrender" their positions.
According to the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization, treatment of gonococcal disease should be carried out immediately with two antibiotics - for example, Ceftriaxone in combination with Azithromycin.
Of course, the pharmaceutical industry is working hard to create new generations of antibacterial agents. But at the moment all these drugs are in the relevant stages of clinical research. When they are destined to fall into the hands of practicing doctors - is still unknown.
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