Rates of super-gonorrhea – an antibacterial resistant form of the sexually transmitted disease – are rising in cities around the country, according to a new study.
The study from the CDC warns that that threat is real and that growing antimicrobial drug resistance might hamper our ability to prevent and control the infection in the future.
The new research was published in the April 2014 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Gonorrhea is “remarkably adept” at developing resistance to the drugs used to treat it, the researchers note. It can no longer be treated by penicillin and other antimicrobial drugs; the antibiotics cefixime and ceftriaxone are currently our last line of defense against it. If gonorrhea continues to adapt and develops a resistance to those as well, it would “pose a major public health challenge,” the researchers note.
Read more: Business Insider
