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Gonorrhea, if untreated, could cause infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and can be passed to children during pregnancy
A British man has caught the world’s worst ever case of super-gonorrhea.
The man, unnamed, has a regular partner. He picked up the superbug after a sexual encounter with a woman in South East Asia.
It is the first time the infection cannot be cured with first choice antibiotics.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, from Public Health England, said: “This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics.”
Discussions with the World Health Organization and the European Centres for Disease Control agree this is a world first.
Health officials are now tracing any of the man’s previous partners to ensure the disease does not spread.
Are gay and bi men at risk of ‘super-gonorrhea’?
A recent study has shown from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that gonorrhea levels are at record highs.
Those most at risk are gay and bi men regardless of their PrEP status.
Men who have sex with men accounted for the majority of new gonorrhea and syphilis cases. All this while strains of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea were discovered to be on the rise among gay and bi men.
What is ‘super-gonorrhea’?
Super-gonorrhea is a slightly different variation of the gonorrhea bacterium. This is a sexually-transmitted infection that can infect your penis, vagina, rectum or throat. It’s been dubbed ‘super-gonorrhea’ by the media, but this may inadvertently give the impression that it’s an all-conquering, impossible-to-treat version.
This is not the case. Until now, gonorrhea infections in the UK are treated with a two-pronged attack of antibiotics given at the same time: ceftriaxone and azithromycin.
This new outbreak of gonorrhea has a high level of resistance to azithromycin. In other words, the antibiotic is largely ineffective against it. Instead, the reported infections have had to be treated with ceftriaxone only.
How do you know if you’re infected?
Both common gonorrhea and ‘super gonorrhea’ presents themselves in exactly the same way. This can include sharp pain when urinating and an unpleasant greenish or yellow pus-discharge from your penis or vagina. It can be a sore throat if infected in your throat.
Alternatively, you can have no symptoms – particularly if you are only infected in your throat or rectum. A definite diagnosis can only be given through a check-up with an sexual health clinic.
