Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection that can be asymptomatic in both men and women. When symptoms do occur, there is often pain while urinating and abnormal urethral or vaginal discharge. Gonorrhea has become increasingly antibiotic resistant and the number of cases is on the rise in the United States. Either resistance or an increasing number of cases is a scary thing, but it is even scarier when we have both of these occurring at the same time. CBS News reports that the data collected in 2018 showed that “a total of 583,405 gonorrhea cases were reported, a 63% increase since 2014 and the highest number reported in 28 years.” This is an alarming number. Any rise in STIs is undesired, but these numbers show that it is more than just a small increase, so it is obviously something we need to pay more attention to.
Lately, we have seen a rise in antibiotic resistance for the treatment of gonorrhea. An article in The Washington Post reveals that “half of all new gonorrhea infections are resistant to at least one type of antibiotic.” This means that what we once thought of as a little, curable sexually transmitted infection could reemerge as more of a threat to the population than it was when we had the antibiotic. It doesn’t help that many cases of gonorrhea are asymptomatic and people will go untreated because they don’t even realize they have it. When a person does not realize they have the infection, they will continue on with their lives and this could mean they are not taking as many precautions to limit its spread. These normal prevention methods may include abstinence, monogamous relationships, and consistent use of condoms. These are the behavioral methods that are most often used to prevent contracting many of the STIs.
In an article referencing the developing antibiotic resistance of gonorrhea on ScienceDaily they discuss the urgency of coming up with new treatment methods so that we can keep this disease under control when the antibiotics completely stop working. Medical doctor Gail Bolan says, “We expect gonorrhea will eventually wear down our last highly effective antibiotic, and additional treatment options are urgently needed.” I agree with this idea and it is surprising to me that we rely so heavily on this one treatment method instead of searching for more methods. It is as though we found a single treatment and then threw all our trust into it without considering what the repercussions could be years down the road. Maybe we should keep this in mind the next time we find a treatment to a disease or infection. Just because we find one solution doesn’t mean there aren’t any more and we must keep on searching and progressing.
Magnifying Microbiology 