First case of ‘super-resistant’ STD confirmed in U.K.
The first case of drug-resistant super-gonorrhea has been confirmed in a U.K. man, and doctors say the increasing potency of the sexually transmitted disease will lead to already skyrocketing numbers.
“The thing that’s been going on is, over the years we’ve been seeing gonorrhea’s increasing resistance to drugs,” said Dr. Lee Wetzler, an infectious disease specialist at Boston Medical Center. “This isn’t surprising to anyone in the STD field. And it’s not going to get better.”
Health officials in the U.K. say a man contracted the “super-resistant” form of gonorrhea while traveling in Southeast Asia.
He has not been responsive to the most aggressive treatment, which is a combination of the antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone.
“We are investigating a case who has gonorrhea which was acquired abroad and is very resistant to the recommended first-line treatment,” Dr. Gwenda Hughes of Public Health England said in a statement.
Gonorrhea, one of the most common STDs, can cause painful urination and testicular pain for men. Women generally go without symptoms. If left untreated, it can lead to infertility.
Numbers have been increasing in Massachusetts over the past decade. In 2016, there were 4,611 cases — a 60 percent jump since 2006.
Despite its ability to infect without symptoms, the consequences can be quite serious, Wetzler said.
“There’s evidence it can enhance HIV transmission,” he said. “In and of itself, it’s rarely, if ever fatal, but it can cause issues that can financially and medically be significant.”
Wetzler said researchers are working to develop new antibiotic options for treatment and a gonorrhea vaccine.
Unless there are advancements in these domains, more cases with greater severity are expected, he said. And it is only a matter of time before the resistant form of the illness makes its way to the United States.
“There’ll be a tipping point unless we see new antibiotics or vaccinations,” he said. “I guarantee you we will see more and more resistant organisms.”