Untreatable gonorrhoea spreading around world: WHO

Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhoea have spread to countries across the world, the United Nations health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier.

Scientists reported last year finding a "superbug" strain of gonorrhoea in Japan in 2008 that was resistant to all recommended antibiotics and warned then that it could transform a once easily treatable infections into a global health threat.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said those fears are now reality with many more countries, including Australia, France, Norway, Sweden and Britain, reporting cases of the sexually transmitted disease resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics - normally the last option for drugs against gonorrhoea.

"Gonorrhoea is becoming a major public health challenge," said Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, from the WHO's department of reproductive health and research. She said more than 106 million people are newly infected with the disease every year.

"The organism is what we term a superbug - it has developed resistance to virtually every class of antibiotics that exists," she told a briefing in Geneva. "If gonococcal infections become untreatable, the health implications are significant."

Gonorrhoea Neisseria gonorrhoea is the second most common bacterial STI in the United Kingdom. Young people are most commonly infected, with current rates highest in males aged 20-24 years and females aged 16-19 years.

Young people are most commonly infected, with current rates highest in males aged 20-24 years and females aged 16-19 years. The highest rates are found in London and predominantly urban areas. Gonococcal infection tends to be concentrated in core prevention groups. In the UK these include homosexual/bisexual men and black ethnic minority populations.

Gonorrhoea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection which, if left untreated, can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, severe eye infections in babies, and infertility in both men and women.

It is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world and is most prevalent in south and southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of cases is estimated at around 700,000 a year.

The WHO called for greater vigilance on the correct use of antibiotics and more research into alternative treatments for so-called gonococcal infections.

What is gonorrhoea?

- Gonorrhoea is a sexually acquired infection caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium.
- After genital chlamydia, gonorrhoea is the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the UK.