TANGAZO JUU
At least three people worldwide are infected with totally untreatable "superbug" strains of gonorrhoea which they are likely to be spreading to others through sex, the World Health Organisation has warned.
Giving details of studies showing a "very serious situation" with regard to highly drug-resistant forms of the sexually-transmitted infection (STI), experts said it was "only a matter of time" before last-resort gonorrhoea antibiotics would be of no use.
At least three people in Japan, Spain and France have been found to be infected with the untreatable strain, which they could have spread to others.
An estimated 78 million people contract the STI, which can cause infertility, each year. Its spread has been blamed on oral sex and a decline in condom use.
"Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug," said Dr Teodora Wi, from WHO. "Every time you introduce a new class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea, the bug becomes resistant.
"It will only be a matter of years and this antibiotic will not be useful any more. It takes years to develop new drugs so we need to have that new drug in the pipeline so that in a few years' time, we have something to replace the current treatment.
"Worryingly, the vast majority of infections are in poor countries where resistance is harder to detect - these cases may just be the tip of the iceberg."
The infection, which in many cases has no symptoms on its own, can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as increasing the risk of getting HIV.
Dr Wi, who gave details in a telephone briefing of two studies on gonorrhoea published in the journal PLOS Medicine, said one had documented three specific cases of patients with strains of gonorrhoea against which no known antibiotic is effective.
"These are cases that can infect others. It can be transmitted," she told reporters. "And these cases may just be the tip of the iceberg, since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries where gonorrhoea is actually more common."
Giving details of studies showing a "very serious situation" with regard to highly drug-resistant forms of the sexually-transmitted infection (STI), experts said it was "only a matter of time" before last-resort gonorrhoea antibiotics would be of no use.
At least three people in Japan, Spain and France have been found to be infected with the untreatable strain, which they could have spread to others.
An estimated 78 million people contract the STI, which can cause infertility, each year. Its spread has been blamed on oral sex and a decline in condom use.
"Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug," said Dr Teodora Wi, from WHO. "Every time you introduce a new class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea, the bug becomes resistant.
"It will only be a matter of years and this antibiotic will not be useful any more. It takes years to develop new drugs so we need to have that new drug in the pipeline so that in a few years' time, we have something to replace the current treatment.
"Worryingly, the vast majority of infections are in poor countries where resistance is harder to detect - these cases may just be the tip of the iceberg."
The infection, which in many cases has no symptoms on its own, can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as increasing the risk of getting HIV.
Dr Wi, who gave details in a telephone briefing of two studies on gonorrhoea published in the journal PLOS Medicine, said one had documented three specific cases of patients with strains of gonorrhoea against which no known antibiotic is effective.
"These are cases that can infect others. It can be transmitted," she told reporters. "And these cases may just be the tip of the iceberg, since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries where gonorrhoea is actually more common."
Ta
DOWNLOAD AND WATCH THEIR VIDEO HERE DON'T FORGET TO SHARE THIS...
Share :
