The World Health Organisation has warned that those who engage in oral sex risk contacting what it describes as ‘ super gonorrhoea. ’
The untreatable strain of gonorrhoea is rapidly spreading across the world , putting millions of lives at risk, WHO warns .
Experts said that incurable gonorrhoea has started to spread after becoming resistant to antibiotics.
The world health body has attributed the spread of untreatable gonorrhoea to two reasons: indulging in oral sex and a decline in condom use.
Gonorrhoea , which is sexually - transmitted, can live at the back of the throat and , because of this , has become immune to antibiotics used to treat common throat infections.
The WHO issued the warning after it confirmed that three people have died from the super infection , which spreads through sex .
Now , experts from the WHO have said it is “ only a matter of time ” before last- resort gonorrhoea antibiotics would be of no use at all .
“ Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug, ” said Teodora Wi , a human reproduction specialist at the Geneva-based U .N . health agency .
“ Every time you introduce a new type of antibiotic to treat it , this bug develops resistance to it. ”
She added that the rapid spread of the antibiotic resistant bacteria has been caused in part by oral sex.
“ When you use antibiotics to treat infections such as a normal sore throat , this mixes with the Neisseria species ( gonorrhoea bacteria ) in your throat and this results in resistance ,” she said .
A decline in condom use is also thought to have helped the infection to spread , she added.
Dr. Wi said medics have now documented three specific cases — one each in Japan, France and Spain — 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 said .
“ 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. ”
The WHO found there was widespread resistance to the first - line medicine
ciprofloxacin and increasing resistance to
azithromycin .
In most countries, last-case antibiotics are now the only single antibiotics that remain effective for treating gonorrhoea. Yet , resistance to them has already been reported in 50 countries.
Director of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership , Manica Balasegaram, said the situation was ‘ grim ’ and there was a ‘ pressing need ’ for new medicines .
“ The pipeline is very thin , with only three potential new gonorrhoea drugs in development and no guarantee any will prove effective in final- stage trials , ” he lamented.
“ We urgently need to seize the opportunities we have with existing drugs and candidates in the pipeline .
“ Any new treatment developed should be accessible to everyone who needs it, while ensuring it is used appropriately, so that drug resistance is slowed as much as possible , ” he said .
The World Health Organisation estimates that 78 million people a year get gonorrhoea — a sexually transmitted disease that can infect the genitals , rectum and throat .
Physicians warn that gonorrhoea can turn vaginal and penis discharge green , but is often symptomless.
Again , they warn that it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as increasing the risk of getting HIV .
Source: punchng
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