Gonorrhea not as curable as you might have thought

[benisbig]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and levofloxacin) as a treatment for gonorrhea in the United States. This limits the options available to treat gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.

The recommendation was prompted by new data released today in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) showing that fluoroquinolone-resistant gonorrhea is now widespread in the United States among heterosexuals and men who have sex with men (MSM). The data showed the proportion of drug-resistant cases among heterosexuals rising above the recognized threshold of 5 percent for changing treatment recommendations. CDC had recommended fluoroquinolones no longer be used to treat gonorrhea in MSM when this threshold was crossed in earlier years.


http://www.rxpgnews.com/infectiousd..._One_of_Nation_s_Most_Common_STDs_23595.shtml

 

[masquerade]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and levofloxacin) as a treatment for gonorrhea in the United States. This limits the options available to treat gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.

The recommendation was prompted by new data released today in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) showing that fluoroquinolone-resistant gonorrhea is now widespread in the United States among heterosexuals and men who have sex with men (MSM). The data showed the proportion of drug-resistant cases among heterosexuals rising above the recognized threshold of 5 percent for changing treatment recommendations. CDC had recommended fluoroquinolones no longer be used to treat gonorrhea in MSM when this threshold was crossed in earlier years.


http://www.rxpgnews.com/infectiousd..._One_of_Nation_s_Most_Common_STDs_23595.shtml

Soooo.... over 90% of gonorrhea cases still ARE treatable with those sorts of antibiotics? Seems like pretty good odds to me. It sucks for the ones whom the drug treatment fails, but I'd certainly hope they'd still let me give me it a try if I ever got gonorrhea!

 

[justme]

You'd have to imagine that the 90% will only get worse... Darwin etc.

 

[franca]

The updated treatment regimen is a single dose administered at the doctor's office. This is a good thing. Patients are notoriously bad at complying with treatment regimens that require multiple doses over the course of many days. That probably contributed to increased fluoroquinolone resistance.