Gonorrhea May Become Untreatable as Antibiotics Wane, WHO Says

[FarCenter]

By Simeon Bennett

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gonorrhea may become untreatable as the improper use of antibiotics reduces their ability to clear the sexually transmitted infection, the World Health Organization said.

There is now “widespread resistance” to cheaper first- line antibiotics against the bacterium that causes gonorrhea, the WHO’s Western Pacific regional office said in a statement today. The agency said Australia, Hong Kong and Japan have reported treatment failures with cephalosporin, a class of antibiotics that’s the last line of defense against the disease.

“We are dealing with a serious issue with the implication that gonorrhea may become untreatable,” Shin Young-soo, the WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific, said in the statement. “This will have a major impact on our efforts to control the disease and will result in an increase in serious health-related complications,” Shin said.

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[ensho]

1. std's are at an epidemic level in the US

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