WHO warns of resistant gonorrhea bacteria

Increased spread of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea bacteria

07/06/2012

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns against the spread of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. According to the WHO, more than 100 million people worldwide are infected with gonorrhea (gonorrhea) every year. If the resistance of the bacteria to antibiotics continues to increase, the number of deaths is likely to rise sharply, the WHO experts fear.

„Tripler is becoming a major public health issue because of the high incidence of infections accompanied by dwindling treatment options, "said Dr. Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan of WHO's Reproductive Health and Research Department previously used for treatment broad-spectrum antibiotics have been observed. „Without researching new antibiotics, soon there might be no effective treatment for the patients“ more are available, Dr. Lusti-Narasimhan. In the worst case, gonorrhea will become incurable.

Tripper bacteria are increasingly developing resistance
While gonorrhea used to be relatively effective in treating gonorrhea with simple penicillin, the medication had to be switched to certain broad-spectrum antibiotics (cephalosporins) in the past because of the increasing resistance of gonorrhea. But these too are losing their effect. In 2011, a gonococcal strain was first discovered in Japan, which had developed resistance to all cephalosporins. According to the WHO, resistance to gonorrhea (gonococci or Neisseria gonorrhoeae) has since been demonstrated in numerous other countries, such as Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Sweden. If development continues, there could be no cure for millions infected, the WHO warns. „We are very concerned about recent reports of treatment failure in the last effective treatment option (cephalosporin antibiotics) as there are no new therapeutic drugs in development“, said the WHO expert, dr. Lusti-Narasimhan.

Global Action Plan to control resistant gonorrhea germs
The World Health Organization therefore calls in its Wednesday published guidelines on the management of gonorrhea „greater vigilance for the correct use of antibiotics and further research into alternative treatments for gonococcal infections.“ A global action plan aims to combat the spread of resistant gonorrhea. This includes the increased monitoring of antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae as well „better prevention, diagnosis and control of gonococcal infections“, WHO reports in its press release. Following the introduction of the Infection Protection Act in 2001, it was no longer comprehensively recorded, but last year the RKI reported that in Saxony - where the data is still being collected - a massive increase in the number of infections was observed. Here, the infection rate between 2003 and 2010 more than doubled. To what extent resistant gonorrhea bacteria played a role, remains unclear.

Health risks of non-treatable gonorrhea infection
On the health risks posed by untreatable gonorrhea, the WHO warned that health problems, such as infections of the urethra, uterus and rectum, threatened. Also, gonorrhea could lead to infertility in men and women. Add to that „a significantly increased risk of HIV infection.“ Ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births are other possible consequences of the Trippers. In addition, according to the WHO, in gonorrhea during pregnancy, there is a risk of 30 to 50 percent of babies suffering from severe gonococcal eye infection at birth. Because the infection can generally pass from the genital organs to other organs, at worst there is a threat of a fatal disease course. The increase in resistance is therefore highly critical, according to WHO estimates.

Development of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea bacteria
On the development of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea bacteria, the WHO explained that this „caused by unrestricted access to antibiotics, overuse and poor quality of antibiotics, as well as natural genetic mutations of the pathogens.“ A little more care in the use of antibiotics could thus already counteract the spread of resistant gonorrhea germs. According to the experts, clear successes could also be achieved in the field of infection prevention if more attention was paid to safe contraception during intercourse. Here simple education measures could bring a clear improvement. (Fp)

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Image: Sebastian Karkus