STI super-strains that resist all antibiotics

STRAINS of a sexually-transmitted disease resistant to antibiotics are spreading around the world, the World Health Organization warned.

At least three patients have been infected with the mutant gonorrhoea, with more likely to follow, officials said.

Gonorrhoea, a dangerous bacterial infection that can cause infertility, is rapidly evolving to become immune to the drugs.

Data published by the UN agency shows the disease is now resistant to ciprofloxacin, a common antibiotic, in 97 per cent of countries studied. When that happens, doctors have previously been able to reach for alternative drugs, but the pool of medicines that work against the infection is shrinking.

Nearly seven in ten countries, or 66 per cent, are reporting resistance against what used to be treatments of last resort – antibiotics known as extended-spectrum cephalosporins.

The three cases of patients recorded – in Japan, France and Spain – are probably ‘the tip of the iceberg’, officials have warned.

World Health medical officer Dr Teodora Wi, said: ‘Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug. Every time you introduce a new antibiotic, this bug develops resistance to it.’

The global agency estimates that 78million people around the world become infected each year.

In the UK, almost 35,000 cases a year are reported, making it the second most common sexually transmitted illness after chlamydia. Male symptoms include pain when urinating as well as inflammation, with infertility one of the worst-case scenarios as the bug can ravage sperm count.

However, the more serious symptoms affect women, causing pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as an increased risk of contracting the HIV virus.

Dr Wi said: ‘These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg, since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries.’