Gonorrhea Could Soon Be Untreatable

[Gathomas88]

IFL - Gonorrhea Could Soon Be Untreatable

The United Kingdom's chief medical officer has sent a warning to all doctors that the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea could evolve to the point where it cannot be treated, returning humanity to the pre-penicillin era. Such an outcome can be delayed, and possibly prevented entirely, if doctors prescribe drugs correctly, Dame Sally Davies claimed. Sadly, this is not currently happening, at least not all the time.

It seems that just as medicine starts to make sex safe from one threat, another rises in its place. This is not entirely coincidental. The arrival of better treatments for HIV, at least in the developed world, may have led to an increased number of people becoming blasé about safer sex practices. This could explain the spiraling rates of diseases such as syphilis and chlamydia, particularly among a generation too young to remember when deaths from AIDS were common in the West.

For gonorrhea, increased opportunities for transmission are combining with the antibiotic resistance seen emerging across many bacterial diseases. In March this year, an outbreak of drug-resistant gonorrhea was reported in Leeds, with cases spreading to other north-England towns.

This is not the first time the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae has developed resistance to antibiotics. However, at one time, a variety of spare drugs existed that could be pressed into service when an old one no longer worked. Those days may soon be over, warn infectious disease specialists.

The recommended treatment for gonorrhea is to combine a ceftriaxone injection and an oral dose of azithromycin or doxycycline. This double hit of very different types of antibiotics almost always kills the bacterium, at least currently. Taking only one of the antibiotics opens up the danger of resistance appearing to first one drug and then the other.

Consequently, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV were concerned to discover that online pharmacies were offering azithromycin on its own, while some doctors are prescribing obsolete antibiotics.

Most people infected with gonorrhea show no symptoms, although they can still transmit it. For those who experience symptoms, the most common are yellow or green genital discharge, bleeding between periods and pain during sex or urination. Rarer outcomes include a 20 percent increased risk of prostate cancer, and blindness in children born with the disease.

In 2009, a strain of gonorrhea, called H041, was identified that was untreatable with all cephalosporin-class antibiotics, which includes ceftriaxone. However, only one case of H041 has been reported. Although cases of two other ceftriaxone-resistant strains have been published, it is clear that not every multidrug-resistant strain will spread wildly. Nevertheless, with 16 cases now known from the Leeds outbreak, warning signs are obvious.

The announcement that Truvada can prevent infection with HIV when used as a “morning after drug” has sparked concerns that people will become even more lax about condom use, opening the door to other diseases. These fears are debated, but haven't been helped by poster campaigns apparently advocating condomless sex, as if HIV was the only threat.

Well... This should be fun.

It seems to be the "new normal" either way regardless, however. More people having more promiscuous sex is pretty much guaranteed to result in new and more exotic strains of the diseases promiscuous sex is known to spread. After all, sexual contact with multiple partners is basically an invasive pathogen's wet dream. lol

Medicine can do "damage control" on this to a certain extent. However, as the article notes, human nature is actively working against it.

People simply use new treatments as an excuse to "up their game" and increase foolish and risky behavior. That inevitably just creates new problems for medicine to attempt to resolve.

While new diseases can potentially scare people into cleaning up their acts, the effect is ultimately only temporary, and soon forgotten. This starts the cycle all over again.

 

[joG]

IFL - Gonorrhea Could Soon Be Untreatable



Well... This should be fun.

It seems to be the "new normal" either way regardless, however. More people having more promiscuous sex is pretty much guaranteed to result in new and more exotic strains of the diseases promiscuous sex is known to spread. After all, sexual contact with multiple partners is basically an invasive pathogen's wet dream. lol

Medicine can do "damage control" on this to a certain extent. However, as the article notes, human nature is actively working against it.

People simply use new treatments as an excuse to "up their game" and increase foolish and risky behavior. That inevitably just creates new problems for medicine to attempt to resolve.

While new diseases can potentially scare people into cleaning up their acts, the effect is ultimately only temporary, and soon forgotten. This starts the cycle all over again.

Sounds worse than needing an abortion.

 

[ludin]

IFL - Gonorrhea Could Soon Be Untreatable



Well... This should be fun.

It seems to be the "new normal" either way regardless, however. More people having more promiscuous sex is pretty much guaranteed to result in new and more exotic strains of the diseases promiscuous sex is known to spread. After all, sexual contact with multiple partners is basically an invasive pathogen's wet dream. lol

Medicine can do "damage control" on this to a certain extent. However, as the article notes, human nature is actively working against it.

People simply use new treatments as an excuse to "up their game" and increase foolish and risky behavior. That inevitably just creates new problems for medicine to attempt to resolve.

While new diseases can potentially scare people into cleaning up their acts, the effect is ultimately only temporary, and soon forgotten. This starts the cycle all over again.

just one of the punishments for sexual immorality.

 

[Hawkeye10]

We are losing the ability to beat back the bugs, and it is not at all clear that we will regain ground anytime soon. On the plus side this planet looks to be about ready to deal with the problem of over population of humans. I hope to be dead before the massive die offs start.

 

[Jetboogieman]

A good reason to improve sexual education... And not go along with the religious fundamentalists notion of "sexual immorality".

 

[Gathomas88]

A good reason to improve sexual education... And not go along with the religious fundamentalists notion of "sexual immorality".

Sex education is already more than sufficient (keep in mind this statement is coming from the highly Left-leaning and socially liberal UK, not the American 'Bible Belt'). The problem is that a fairly large population of irresponsible morons simply choose not to make use of it, and likely never will.

Frankly, even where protection is used, it is hardly foolproof - especially given how many promiscuous liaisons tend to take place under the influence of judgement, perception, and (quite frankly) competence impairing substances like drugs and alcohol.

The only true solution here is simply for people to screw around less. I have my doubts if that will happen in time to prevent what the OP describes given our current culture and the social attitudes it promotes.

 

[Hawkeye10]

The only true solution here is simply for people to screw around less.

That is very important to a lot of people on both the left and the right for sure. But you will understand if the little people wonder if all that can be done to allow them to have a fun and free sex life has been done when there is a HIV infection prevention drug that has been on the market for about 3 years and a whole lot of people are conspiring to make sure that it is lightly used......and they will in weak moments tell you exactly why.......because they want the little people to fear getting infected.

 

[Cally]

I guess people will have to stop rubbing their genitals together with equal or less concern than animals in estrus. Darn personal responsibility! Friggin consequences for one's actions..

just one of the punishments for sexual immorality.

Is obesity punishment for eating too many hamburgers? It's cause and effect. Apparently Bob Jones or Brigham Young 'University' (i use that term loosely) is still skimping on its use of science and rationality. lol

 

[Helix]

there isn't as much money in antibiotic discovery as there is for other illnesses, so my guess is that the pharmaceutical companies won't take that seriously again until it's situation critical. my opinion is that NIH funding should be seriously increased, and antibiotic discovery and production should be a priority public sector project.

 

[ludin]

I guess people will have to stop rubbing their genitals together with equal or less concern than animals in estrus. Darn personal responsibility! Friggin consequences for one's actions..

yep pretty much. maybe people should stop randomly sleeping with other people they don't really know.
hey you want to catch something then go ahead. just don't be mad when other people turn you down because
they don't want to catch it either.

Is obesity punishment for eating too many hamburgers? It's cause and effect. Apparently Bob Jones or Brigham Young 'University' (i use that term loosely) is still skimping on its use of science and rationality. lol

nope you have that backwards. the punishment for eating to many hamburgers is obesity. the punishment for having random sexual relations with people
is that you get something you probably don't want.

yes what I posted is science and rationality.

 

[ludin]

there isn't as much money in antibiotic discovery as there is for other illnesses, so my guess is that the pharmaceutical companies won't take that seriously again until it's situation critical. my opinion is that NIH funding should be seriously increased, and antibiotic discovery and production should be a priority public sector project.

the problem is that we are taking to many antibiotics. things that our bodies should develop immunity to we wipe out with antibiotics.
some countries in Europe have stopped giving them out unless it is absolutely needed in order to counter the issue.

 

[ludin]

A good reason to improve sexual education... And not go along with the religious fundamentalists notion of "sexual immorality".

the fact is if you sleep with people that have STD's you are probably going to get it.
the worst fact is if they don't tell you about it then you are really probably going to
get it.

protection or not.

 

[ludin]

Sex education is already more than sufficient (keep in mind this statement is coming from the highly Left-leaning and socially liberal UK, not the American 'Bible Belt'). The problem is that a fairly large population of irresponsible morons simply choose not to make use of it, and likely never will.

Frankly, even where protection is used, it is hardly foolproof - especially given how many promiscuous liaisons tend to take place under the influence of judgement, perception, and (quite frankly) competence impairing substances like drugs and alcohol.

The only true solution here is simply for people to screw around less. I have my doubts if that will happen in time to prevent what the OP describes given our current culture and the social attitudes it promotes.

I wouldn't say screw around less but screw around with less people and keep more monogamous relationships.

 

[Helix]

the problem is that we are taking to many antibiotics. things that our bodies should develop immunity to we wipe out with antibiotics.
some countries in Europe have stopped giving them out unless it is absolutely needed in order to counter the issue.

probably should stop putting antibiotics in animal feed. antibiotic research isn't profitable right now, so it's a good area to expand the public sector's role.

i did some antibiotic discovery in grad school. didn't find a new one, but i enjoyed it. for things like MRSA, i've wondered if maybe bacteriophage therapy is the way to go. i've worked with those, too, and it was one of my favorite jobs in industry.

 

[Gathomas88]

the problem is that we are taking to many antibiotics. things that our bodies should develop immunity to we wipe out with antibiotics.
some countries in Europe have stopped giving them out unless it is absolutely needed in order to counter the issue.

True. They're basically driving natural selection at an accelerated pace. All but the most virulent strains of these diseases are being killed off by modern medicine, so it is those virulent strains which are spreading.

Modern sexual habits simply happen to have given them a much larger pool of hosts to spread through, which further fuels adaption and mutation.

 

[Hawkeye10]

the problem is that we are taking to many antibiotics. things that our bodies should develop immunity to we wipe out with antibiotics.
some countries in Europe have stopped giving them out unless it is absolutely needed in order to counter the issue.

I think if you check you will see that other problems are

1) we give too many antibiotics to animals

2) we use the antibiotics too often incorrectly

3) we have not developed any new types of antibiotics in a very long time

 

[Cally]

yep pretty much. maybe people should stop randomly sleeping with other people they don't really know.
hey you want to catch something then go ahead. just don't be mad when other people turn you down because
they don't want to catch it either.




nope you have that backwards. the punishment for eating to many hamburgers is obesity. the punishment for having random sexual relations with people
is that you get something you probably don't want.

yes what I posted is science and rationality.

No. What you did was post a one-liner about sexual immorality. Don't quote me a bumper sticker. Science and rationality is cause and effect. Not ecclesiastical nonsense.

 

[Cally]

probably should stop putting antibiotics in animal feed. antibiotic research isn't profitable right now, so it's a good area to expand the public sector's role.

i did some antibiotic discovery in grad school. didn't find a new one, but i enjoyed it. for things like MRSA, i've wondered if maybe bacteriophage therapy is the way to go. i've worked with those, too, and it was one of my favorite jobs in industry.

Not putting antibiotics in animal feed would require changing from the current methods used by industrial farming which are more profitable. When animals are standing in several itches of their own feces in the slaughter yard for weeks at a time, infections are inevitable.

 

[Helix]

Not putting antibiotics in animal feed would require changing from the current methods used by industrial farming which are more profitable. When animals are standing in several itches of their own feces in the slaughter yard for weeks at a time, infections are inevitable.

well, we could not do that, too.

 

[ludin]

probably should stop putting antibiotics in animal feed. antibiotic research isn't profitable right now, so it's a good area to expand the public sector's role.

i did some antibiotic discovery in grad school. didn't find a new one, but i enjoyed it. for things like MRSA, i've wondered if maybe bacteriophage therapy is the way to go. i've worked with those, too, and it was one of my favorite jobs in industry.

that as well. in fact I think some nations have stopped antibiotic shots in their animals all together.
even if you developed a new antibiotic if over taken and abused you just end up with another strain resistant bacteria.

that is the other issue. people take antibiotics for non-bacteria issues. which does nothing.

usually if I am sick enough and have to go to the doctor they do a blood test to see if it is bacterial or virus.
if it is a virus they give something to relieve the symptoms but that is it.

they will not prescribe and antibiotic.

 

[ludin]

No. What you did was post a one-liner about sexual immorality. Don't quote me a bumper sticker. Science and rationality is cause and effect. Not ecclesiastical nonsense.

actually no. it is medical fact and you can look it up on any medical site and/or any doctor will tell you the same thing.
you evidently are not well versed in this which makes you a dangerous person in society.

it is ignorance in this area which has caused the explosion of STD's that people have.
in fact the Government CDC has seen the explosion and has found the source of this to be the
hook up culture.

people sleeping with multiple different people without knowing who they are or anything else.
the simple fact that you don't want to see the truth is not my issue but yours.

 

[Helix]

that as well. in fact I think some nations have stopped antibiotic shots in their animals all together.
even if you developed a new antibiotic if over taken and abused you just end up with another strain resistant bacteria.

if i remember correctly, Europe has stopped the low dose antibiotics in feed. probably a good move. i heard about a study last year that showed that the antibiotics didn't increase weight significantly, so they're basically useless in healthy animals.

that is the other issue. people take antibiotics for non-bacteria issues. which does nothing.

not exactly. when i was a baby, i had serious lung surgery. for most of my childhood, nearly every time i caught a cold, it became bacterial bronchitis or pneumonia pretty quickly. my parents had to go beg for antibiotics, and we finally found a sympathetic doctor who understood my specific issue and would let us keep antibiotics on hand in case my lungs went to ****. now it's even harder to get them, though. luckily, most of my colds are just colds these days, probably partially due to all of the exercise.

usually if I am sick enough and have to go to the doctor they do a blood test to see if it is bacterial or virus.
if it is a virus they give something to relieve the symptoms but that is it.

they will not prescribe and antibiotic.

i know what to say if i really need an antibiotic. most of the time, i'd prefer not to take them, though. most of them are broad spectrum, and that means that your intestinal flora will be getting ****ed with. sometimes i wonder if that's one of the reasons i have auto-immune digestive issues. i'm guessing probably. either way, though, antibiotics have probably saved my life at least once, and probably more than once. scares me that we're not stocking our arsenal just because antibiotic discovery isn't nearly as profitable as boner pills.

 

[ludin]

if i remember correctly, Europe has stopped the low dose antibiotics in feed. probably a good move. i heard about a study last year that showed that the antibiotics didn't increase weight significantly, so they're basically useless in healthy animals.

I think it is more to purge the meat of any bad bacteria. I mean animals do get sick, but usually at least in the US there is a wait period between final vaccine and the slaughter house in order to get the animal rid itself in the anti-botic. in south America not so much. A friend of mine was down there on a mission trip and another guy who is allergic to penicillin came down deathly ill after eating some meat because the farmer had just shot it up with penicillin.

not exactly. when i was a baby, i had serious lung surgery. for most of my childhood, nearly every time i caught a cold, it became bacterial bronchitis or pneumonia pretty quickly. my parents had to go beg for antibiotics, and we finally found a sympathetic doctor who understood my specific issue and would let us keep antibiotics on hand in case my lungs went to ****. now it's even harder to get them, though. luckily, most of my colds are just colds these days, probably partially due to all of the exercise.

I had strep so I was a doctors dream when it came to antibiotics. it wasn't unusual for me to get it two or three times a year.

i know what to say if i really need an antibiotic. most of the time, i'd prefer not to take them, though. most of them are broad spectrum, and that means that your intestinal flora will be getting ****ed with. sometimes i wonder if that's one of the reasons i have auto-immune digestive issues. i'm guessing probably. either way, though, antibiotics have probably saved my life at least once, and probably more than once. scares me that we're not stocking our arsenal just because antibiotic discovery isn't nearly as profitable as boner pills.

Well that is the thing if they are needed fine, but the main issue here is people aren't taking all of them or they only take part of them till they feel better.

 

[SheWolf]

IFL - Gonorrhea Could Soon Be Untreatable



Well... This should be fun.

It seems to be the "new normal" either way regardless, however. More people having more promiscuous sex is pretty much guaranteed to result in new and more exotic strains of the diseases promiscuous sex is known to spread. After all, sexual contact with multiple partners is basically an invasive pathogen's wet dream. lol

Medicine can do "damage control" on this to a certain extent. However, as the article notes, human nature is actively working against it.

People simply use new treatments as an excuse to "up their game" and increase foolish and risky behavior. That inevitably just creates new problems for medicine to attempt to resolve.

While new diseases can potentially scare people into cleaning up their acts, the effect is ultimately only temporary, and soon forgotten. This starts the cycle all over again.

This story should illicit concerns about the effectivness of antibiotics, not simple condemnation of sexual behavior. A lot of common infections are getting harder to treat and cure with antibiotics. This is scary imo.

 

[Helix]

I think it is more to purge the meat of any bad bacteria. I mean animals do get sick, but usually at least in the US there is a wait period between final vaccine and the slaughter house in order to get the animal rid itself in the anti-botic. in south America not so much. A friend of mine was down there on a mission trip and another guy who is allergic to penicillin came down deathly ill after eating some meat because the farmer had just shot it up with penicillin.

it's allegedly for weight gain and disease prevention. it's probably best to cut that out, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock

I had strep so I was a doctors dream when it came to antibiotics. it wasn't unusual for me to get it two or three times a year.

oh, man, same here. i usually had a couple respiratory infections that made me miss school each year.

Well that is the thing if they are needed fine, but the main issue here is people aren't taking all of them or they only take part of them till they feel better.

agreed. it screws everyone over when people do that, as not taking the entire dose encourages resistance.