The antibiotic-resistant bacteria prompted a national alert last year when it showed up in Leeds. As reported in Digital Journal, 12 cases were identified in Leeds with an additional four cases identified in Macclesfield, Oldham, and Scunthorpe.
While there have been efforts made to track down the sexual partners of those infected with this strain of gonorrhea, Public Health England admits there has been limited success. cases have now been detected in West Midlands, London, and southern England, reports the BBC.
There have been 34 cases of the super sexually transmitted disease, confirmed by laboratory tests, but because the disease can be symptomless, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is likely that there are more cases of the super-gonorrhea than have been reported, say health authorities.
This is extremely concerning because of the bug’s growing resistance to known antibiotics that have been used to treat the infection in the past. For some time now, the bug has been treated using a combination of azithromycin and ceftriaxone. The Daily Mail reports the bacterium has now become highly resistant to the azithromycin, leaving only one drug left in the health system’s arsenal of drugs to treat this disease.
While the outbreak started in straight couples, it has spread to gay men. “We’ve been worried it would spread to men who have sex with men,” Peter Greenhouse, a consultant in sexual health based in Bristol, told BBC News. “The problem is [they] tend to spread infections a lot faster simply because they change partners more quickly.”
With homosexual men, getting gonorrhea in the throat is an added problem because antibiotics get to the throat in lower doses, and further resistance to antibiotics is likely to develop. Additionally, the throat is full of other kinds of bacteria that can end up sharing resistance.
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex. One out of 10 heterosexual men can have the infection and be symptomless. But three-quarters of women and gay men have no recognizable symptoms.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, the head of the sexually transmitted infections unit at Public Health England, said: “We cannot afford to be complacent.” She encourages everyone to practice safe sex and to use condoms. People should be very concerned because if this super strain of gonorrhea becomes resistant to ceftriaxone, too, then there are no antibiotics that will work.
