• March 29, 2024

Gonorrhea Super Bug Transmitted Through Oral Sex is Untreatable

 Gonorrhea Super Bug Transmitted Through Oral Sex is Untreatable

Doctors have announced a new strain of gonorrhea that is being spread by oral sex and is untreatable.  It’s the second worst strain ever found.  The worst was discovered in November of 2012 and was known as gonorrhea rectum.

It was only cured by time limits.  Gonorrhea used to be easily treatable with a shot of an antibiotic but the bacteria has developed an immunity to that treatment.  That makes it very dangerous until researchers can find a cure for the new advanced disease.

 Antibiotic resistance is chiefly driven by the over-subscription of antibiotics, according to researchers.

In 2016, experts from the WHO warned that a ‘super’ strain of gonorrhoea could become immune to antibiotics in a ‘matter of years’.

But 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 UN health agency.

‘Every time you introduce a new type of antibiotic to treat it, this bug develops resistance to it.’

Role of oral sex in spreading the disease

She added that the rapid spread of the antibiotic resistant bacteria has been caused in part by oral sex.

The sexually transmitted bacteria can live at the back of the throat and, because of this, is frequently exposed to antibiotics used to treat throat infections.

Repeated exposure to antibiotics makes it easier for bacteria to evolve drug resistance.

‘When you use antibiotics to treat infections like a normal sore throat, this mixes with the Neisseria species [gonorrhoea bacteria] in your throat and this results in resistance,’ Dr Wi told the BBC.

A decline in condom use, caused by misguided fears that they cause HIV in the developing world, use is also thought to have helped the infection to spread, she added.

Condoms protect against the spread of the disease, which is transferred through sexual fluids.

Gonorrhea

What is it?

A very similar STD to chlamydia, gonorrhea is also bacterial, spread through contact.
It stems from bacteria called neisseria gonorrhoeae.
What are the symptoms?
Women typically do not see symptoms; men do.
When a woman does experience symptoms, they are very mild and easily mistaken for a bladder infection.
Doctors recommend getting regular STD tests (urine test or swab) to detect it.

Symptoms in men:
Burning feeling when you urinate
A white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis
Rarely: Painful or swollen testicles

Symptoms in women:
Burning feeling when you urinate
Increased vaginal discharge
Vaginal bleeding between periods
How is it treated?

Gonorrhea is curable with antibiotics, though health officials fear this may be the first ‘untreatable’ STD as the bacteria builds up resistance to our standard methods of treatment.

H/T The Mail Online

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