NewsDesk @bactiman63

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is reporting three new cases of antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in England. The cases include a woman in her 20s in London and a heterosexual couple in their 20s based in the Midlands have recently been diagnosed with a strain of N. gonorrhoeae with resistance to the antibiotic ceftriaxone.

Neisseria
Image/CDC

Ceftriaxone is the main antibiotic used to treat gonorrhea in the UK and being infected with a ceftriaxone resistant strain means that this antibiotic will not easily treat the infection. Follow-up tests are still awaited to see if treatment has been successful in these 3 recent cases.

These follow a case reported in London last December.

Ceftriaxone resistance is most common in the Asia-Pacific region and is occasionally detected in the UK in people who have visited or who have moved to the UK from this region.

Dr Katy Sinka, STI Section Head at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said:

After a couple of years without any cases of this hard to treat form of gonorrhea, we have now seen 4 cases in the last 2 months. It’s too soon to say whether this will be the start of a longer-term trend, but we do know that STIs are on the rise in general.

Getting an STI isn’t as simple as taking some medicine and moving on with your life – if not properly treated, they can have long term impacts on your and your partner’s health. Adding antibiotic resistance into the mix makes the impact on your life even greater.

There are simple steps you can take to reduce your risk of gonorrhea and other STIs. Use condoms consistently and correctly with all new or casual partners, test regularly for STIs and if you have any symptoms such as unusual discharge, don’t have sex until you are tested.

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