Oral sex is contributing to the emergence of a dangerous type of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, but a drop in condom use is contributing to its spread, according to a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO).
If someone gets gonorrhea now it is much harder to treat, and in some cases even impossible.
This sexually transmitted disease is rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics and according to WHO experts the situation is "quite daunting" as there are very few new treatments on the horizon.
About 78 million people are infected with gonorrhea worldwide each year.
This disease, whose symptoms are sometimes difficult to identify, can cause infertility and facilitate the spread of the HIV / AIDS virus.
Three cases "completely intractable"
Dr. Theodora Wi of the WHO said that three cases have already been recorded in which the infection is totally intractable: one was in Japan, one in France and one in Spain.
But evidence of resistance is more widespread, according to the analysis the organization did in 77 countries.
"Gonorrhea is a very smart bacteria, and every time we introduce a new type of antibiotic to treat it, it becomes resistant," said Dr. Wi.
Experts fear that the three intractable cases identified are just the tip of the iceberg because most gonorrhea infections are spread in poorer countries, where cases are more difficult to detect.
Why does oral sex contribute to your resistance to treatments?
Gonorrhea is caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhea, which can infect the genitals, rectum, and throat, but it is the latter that causes more concern among health professionals.
According to Dr. Wi, antibiotics can cause bacteria in the back of the throat, including some that are Neisseria "relatives" of gonorrhea, to develop drug resistance.
"When you use antibiotics to treat problems like typical throat infection, they mix with the Neisseria species", a large genus of bacteria that groups different types and maybe in the throat. "And this results in the development of resistance".
If you also add the specific gonorrhea bacteria to that environment through oral sex, then a kind of super-gonorrhea may arise.
Sometimes difficult to identify
Gonorrhea is spread through vaginal, oral or anal sex without protection.
Some of the frequent symptoms are a thick genital discharge of green or yellow color, pain when urinating and bleeding between the periods in the case of the women.
However, it is estimated that one in 10 heterosexual men infected and three-quarters of infected women do not have easily recognizable symptoms.
Untreated gonorrhea infection can cause infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease. You can also get the baby during pregnancy.
The challenge of monitoring resistance
WHO urged countries to monitor the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea and to invest in new treatments.
"Right now there are only three candidate drugs in development, and there is no guarantee that they will work", said Dr. Manica Balasegaram of the Global Society for Antibiotic Research and Development.
But WHO said it would take a vaccine to stop the infections.
"Since the introduction of penicillin, which was considered a rapid and reliable cure, gonorrhea has developed resistance to all therapeutic antibiotics", Dr. Richard Stabler of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told the BBC.
"Over the past 15 years, therapy has had to change three times because of rising levels of resistance around the world", he added.
"We are now at a point where we are using the drugs of last resort, but the signs are worrisome, because we have already documented failures in the treatment of certain varieties", he said.
SOURCE: BBC
