British man cured of drug-resistant super-gonorrhoea

A British man with a severe case of gonorrhoea has finally been cured of his drug-resistant sexually transmitted infection.

Initially, the man has contracted a form of gonorrhoea that didn’t respond to treatments usually used to rid the body of the infection. Public Health England has now confirmed that after trialling many different antibiotics and drugs on the unidentified man, health experts have succeeded.

“We are pleased to report that the case of multi-drug resistant gonorrhoea has been successfully treated,” Dr Gwenda Hughes, Consultant Scientist and Head of Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Section at PHE, said in a statement. “Investigations have also revealed there has been no further spread of this infection within the UK. PHE continues to actively monitor and tackle the spread of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea and potential treatment failures.”

The man originally contracted the intense case of gonorrhoea known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae after having sexual intercourse with a woman from south-east Asia. It was the first known case of gonorrhoea that wasn’t able to be treated with medications and antibiotics usually prescribed for the STI. Health professionals tried to cure the man with antibiotics called azithromycin and ceftriaxone. In most cases of gonorrhoea, they are recommended as the first-line of treatment.

Doctors were left baffled when neither worked, leaving the man with an array of painful and disturbing symptoms. Gonorrhoea is one of the most infectious sexually transmitted infections and can easily be passed on from unprotected vaginal, anal and oral intercourse. It can also be passed from person to person by direct contact with the genitals. Symptoms commonly include a smelly green or yellow discharge from the penis or vagina. Some cases result in bleeding from the genitals and cause pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy and infertility in younger women.

Health professionals discovered an antibiotic called ertapenem eventually worked. While the outcome is a welcome development for the British man, super-gonorrhoea continues to spread around the world. Just last week, two cases were confirmed in Australia, which Public Health England said is particularly worrying.

“Two similar cases have just been reported in Australia and serve as a timely reminder that we expect to see further cases of multi-drug resistant gonorrhoea in the future,” Dr Hughes said. “These cases will be challenging for healthcare professionals to manage. We urge the public to avoid getting or passing on gonorrhoea by using condoms consistently and correctly with all new and casual partners. If you think you have been at risk, you should seek an STI screen at a sexual health clinic.”

So far, a person in Queensland and another in Western Australia have become infected with gonorrhoea that isn’t responding to treatment. There are fears that overuse of antibiotics has made the STI immune to treatments that typically cure patients of the painful symptoms.

It comes as the World Health Organisation warned that more than one million STIs are acquired around the world each day, with 78 million people becoming infected with gonorrhoea each year. The bacteria that caused the diseases were becoming smarter, figuring out ways of evolving to resist new antibiotics, while cheaper and older medications used in the past aren’t having the same impact they once did. WHO added that a decrease in condom use, failed treatments and poor infection detection were also contributing to the problem.

It isn’t just a problem impacting younger people, with recent research published in the Sydney Morning Herald finding men in their 50s and 60s are less likely to use a condom when having sex. They also aren’t as informed as younger men when it came to avoiding STIs. If in doubt, it’s best to chat to a GP or a sexual health clinic, particularly if you have sex with multiple partners.

What do you think? Are you worried diseases are becoming immune to drugs and antibiotics that usually work?