The Australian Government Department of Health recently reported two “super gonorrhea” cases, where the STD strain is resistant to all forms of antibiotics.
The news comes on the heels of the world’s first reported super gonorrhea case in the U.K. The person’s infection appears to be resistant to any treatment currently used.
The cases were reported in Western Australia and Queensland. Both patients are thought to have been infected while in Southeast Asia, as the U.K. case was traced back to an infection source in that region.
According to the Australian agency, the latest case, as well as the U.K. case, appear resistant to all known antibiotics used in clearing up gonorrhea infection. They are noted as being multi-drug resistant.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said gonorrhea is an STD that the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes. While symptoms don’t tend to clearly present themselves, men may experience burning while peeing, penile discharge and tender testicles. For women, they may also experience pain while peeing, see more vaginal discharge and experience vaginal bleeding between their actual period.
Men are thought to get gonorrhea more than women, but women with gonorrhea tend to have more serious complications like infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease.
The Department of Health issued a statement saying there has been a rise in the number of non-antibiotic resistant gonorrhea in the country for the past several years. Should the bacteria continue to change, treating it with the common antibiotics may be ineffective. This means certain strains could become impossible to treat.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization are trying to find ways to deal with the new strain that appears, for now, to be resistant to any treatments used.
Anybody with signs of gonorrhea is urged to visit a medical professional right away, said the Australian Government Department of Health.
Written by Mark Riegel, MD
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