According to the Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Clinic staff, the state is thought to have one of the highest rates of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in the U.S.
The STD was first noticed to have struck the island in 2016, and Hawaii’s STD program coordinator Jefferson Remo said the disease is getting even harder to treat and cure.
He said many Southeast Asia residents come to Hawaii to be treated or use the wrong antibiotics to treat the STD. If the antibiotics are not taken fully, or the wrong ones are used, the bacteria can become resistant.
The Centers for Disease Control said 30 percent of gonorrhea cases are noted to be resistant to one drug.
Remo said this causes a bigger issue of the medicines that can actually be used to treat the disease.
Hawaii is also 14th in the U.S. for reported chlamydia and syphilis infections. Many of the cases are being discovered in women than men in the age range of the infected between 15 and 26.
People who are sexually active are urged to get tested every three to six months. The state does have a few free clinics that people can use for testing.
According to Dr. Christina Wang, a reason for the growing number of STIs may be the lack of a standardized health curriculum, as the youth don’t know the risk of being sexually active.
Written by Mark Riegel, MD
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