A team of researchers has discovered a strain of gonorrhea that may be resistant to antibiotics. H041, first found in a the pharynx of a Japanese sex worker, is four to eight times more resistant to ceftriaxone than any other known strain. The H041 strain is likely to soon arrive in the U.S. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story
Researchers have discovered a strain of gonorrhea that is resistant to antibiotics.
Scientists announced the discovery of the new H041 strain at a meeting of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research in Quebec City, Canada, reports MSNBC.
This stubborn strain, found in Japan, displays a strong resistance to the commonly administered treatments called cephalosporins.
Cephalosporins, such as cefixime, which is taken orally, and ceftriaxone, which is injected, are used to treat gonorrhea.
H041, first found in a the pharynx of a Japanese sex worker, is four to eight times more resistant to ceftriaxone than any other known strain.
The H041 strain is likely to soon arrive in the U.S., say researchers.
“Why this is so concerning is that there are no other treatment options besides cephalosporins right now,” Dr. Kimberly Workowski, an STD infection expert at Emory University, told MSNBC. “For pharyngeal infection, oral drugs do not work and ceftiaxone is the only injectable.”
In the U.S., resistance to these drugs is on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The percentage of gonorrhea cases that are resistant to the two commonly administered treatments is on the rise, according to the CDC report, per MSNBC.
