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 Gonorrhea bacteria causes a sexually-transmitted infection in about 106 million people worldwide each year.
June 6th, 2012
01:13 PM ET
WHO: Sexually-transmitted superbug could be major crisisA major public health crisis is emerging, in the form of a sexually-transmitted disease that doesn't respond to antibiotics, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually-transmitted infections. It is spread through oral, vaginal and anal sex. About 106 million people worldwide become infected every year. "Once this organism develops full resistance to this last antibiotic that we have, we have nothing else to offer to these patients," says Dr. Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, scientist at the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at WHO. The organization has just released a global action plan encouraging greater awareness and advocacy, research, increased prevention efforts and monitoring of gonorrhea treatment failure. The same sorts of prevention messages apply for gonorrhea as for HIV/AIDS: Practice safe sex - correct and consistent use of condoms - and limit the number of sexual partners. Australia, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are among the countries reporting cases of gonorrhea that does not respond to cephalosporin antibiotics, which is the last treatment option against gonorrhea. These are developed countries with good health care systems, meaning countries less well off may be even more at risk for a crisis. "If the resistence is there, what we think is that we’re sitting at a tip of an iceberg,"  Lusti-Narasimhan said. "For places in many other parts of the world where there are much less both human and financial resources, it’s very difficult to know the extent of the data." The consequences of an untreated infection are harsh. In both men and women, it can cause infertility. Up to half of babies born from mothers with gonorrhea have severe eye infections, which could lead to blindness. Women who are pregnant may have spontaneous abortions or ectopic pregnancies. If the bacteria gets to other parts of the body, joint pain, swelling and stiffness are possible. The WHO does not know the extent of the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea yet. The infections don't seem to be as resistant in the United States as in some of the other countries, but there is increased susceptibility, Lusti-Narasimhan said. More surveillance is needed globally to fully assess how widespread these resistant infections are. Bacteria may become resistant to antibiotics as a result of overuse or improper use of antimicrobial agents as well as poor-quality versions of these drugs. Strains of gonorrhea in particular appear to have a particularly good ability to become resistant.
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Margaita!
Ok, I'll be the first to say it: It's Obama's fault. There, now talk about the article.
glad we got that out of the way
If Obama had an STD, it would look just like gonorrhea...
LOL @ Pat
Was not. It's Bush's fault.
LOL..................you beat me to the punch!!!
lol I'll say george bush is herpes then because the problems it causes will never go away
Darn you beat me to it.
the cheney plan
It's reported that Prophet Muhammed said: "If fornication(adultery) should become widespread, you should realise that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people which their PREVIOUS GENERATION NEVER SUFFERED"
ironic since mohammed he was having sex with a child.
So what? It's a coincidence, nothing more, nothing less. Saying fornication results in disease is a safe bet simply because the opposite of fornication is the lack thereof and your risk will naturally be smaller.
That's like the prophet saying that he who leaves their home is more likely to die. Well durr?
Doesn't really apply here. This is not a new disease, just a drug resistant strain.
so thats what killed Osama?
Does Muhammed believe that brain cancer comes from using the brain and that colon cancer comes from using the colon or that heart disease comes from using the heart?
Hey! Doofus! If the bacteria has mutated.... that means it is a new "strain"! ...so that means it's a new bug...so that means it's a new diesease.... so that means you are wrong!
@Ossama: actually, gonorrhea is not a new disease. It's been around since before The Prophet was born. Antibiotic resistance is the new thing, not the disease. And antibiotic resistance is a result of overuse of antibiotics, not fornication.
Yeah and when a segment of the population with the disease has resistance meets one that doesn't you get results like smallpox in South America... which one dies off? i predict a massive die off of muslim population resulting from this. All is will take is 1 loose lip.
Apparently Thor failed high school biology. What a doofus.
He was a baby diddler...........
A lot of ragging on this guy, but if Jesus had said the same thing you fools would be falling all over yourselves to tell us it was a sign.
Dr. Wellby, drug resistance is more often the result of not using antibiotics as instructed. For example, the doctor tells me to take the pills for ten days but I stop taking them on day 5 because the symptoms have gone away. All of the infecting bacteria are not dead, yet, and the survivors are able to develop a genetic mutation that makes them immune to the antibiotic that I stopped taking, too soon.
Mohammed probably knew all about gonorrhea. There are records of it in Egypt as far back as 3500 BC. It was known in the region 4,000 years before Islam started. It is probably why the prophet was hot for 9 year old children.
Was that before or after he molested little kids?
Finally,........a bit of GOOD news to report!!!,.......and that's the way it is,.....
Keep it in your pants people1
Hey! why is it always "Keep it in your pants"? Why not "Keep your muff covered"?
No way Jose!!
Well Joe, some could say you should keep your mouth shut. : )
mittens approved.
Flies spread disease. Keep yours zipped
Ehhhh, if you have multiple sex partners and your life is just a sex joke to you, you've got what you asked for. Have sex when your married with your opposite sex spouse for the rest of your happy life, and you wont get the nasty diseases.............unless you marry someone who is infected because they were not following "the rules". Yea, I said it.
And you're an idiot, but whatever floats your boat.
Yea because straight people don't have any STD's.
What an idiot!
That sounds so vanilla and boring.
Until you get raped
right, because heterosexual's never contract STD's or pass them on....(insert obligatory eye roll here)
Of course married heterosexuals are immune to STD's because the defense of marriage act protects them.
And if you overeat you deserve to get a heart attack or stroke and die, and if you smoke you deserve to get cancer and die, if you drive without a seat belt you deserve to die if you crash, if you drink alcohol and drive you deserve to die in a crash, if you abuse any illegal or even prescription drugs you deserve to die.
But since you don't do any of those things, I guess you will live to be a ripe old age. Right?
Sex with just one person is not in accordance with my ancestral ethinicity.
Condescension never really gets people to change their opinion or behavior.
Honestly flippy,
It's that condescending and judgemental tone that drove many away from biblical teachings. You sound like many of the Religious bigots who think that Jesus teed up the ball but it was Paul that knocked it out of the park.
Start with the compassion and understanding we associate with Christ and when you have befriended these people who you think to lecture you might be able to have a conversation with them about how their behavior has real physical risks associated with it.
I have teen aged kids and my talks have encouraged them to save themselves for their one true love. But I've also talked openly about ways that they can protect themselves from the horrible consequences associated with physical intimacy with an infected partner.
I have nothing but compassion for those who are suffering from these horrible infections. But somehow we have to make it OK to have the conversation with them about how risky behavior increases the risk of contracting these diseases.
and this kind of thinking is what led your partner to cheat on you.
You do realize that diseases aren't spontaneously created when a person has sex with another person of the same sex, right?
If a straight couple has a**l (pardon the censorship, but CNN apparently can't handle me using the proper names of body parts) sex and the non-receiving partner is infected, the risk of transmission is EXACTLY the same as if a same sex couple has a**l sex and the non-receiving partner is infected. It has nothing to do with whether or not they are same sex or opposite sex. It has to do with the KIND of sex. So quit acting as if only gay people get STDs, because it just makes you sound stupid. Lesbians have a far lower rate of STD infection than heterosexuals.
dont forget to where your MITTENS everywhere since everyone else doesnt play by YOR morals.
Actually there are perfectly viable antibiotics that can cure antibiotic resistant gonorrhea (or other antibiotic and nonantibiotic resistant bacteria), but they are naturally occurring and cannot be patented. Take for instance colloidal silver.
The pharma industry wants to discredit its use by telling you your skin will turn blue if you take it once. The fda is in their pocket. Do the research for yourself don't take my word for it.
Such beliefs are extremely dangerous and one potential root cause FOR antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Because once the infection goes out of control from such ill-fated beliefs, what do you rely on?
More and more powerful antibiotics.
Please ignore vanderbeek's crack advice. Please seek medical expertise first for infections.
One dose of colloidal silver will cure drug-resistant clap? Wow, how are they keeping this under wraps?
O.K., James, as you suggest, we won't take your word for it. That's the smartest thing you wrote.
Nobody said one dose of Colloidal Silver will cure gonorrhea. Taken over time, it might just help along with standardized garlic. There are a lot of powerful herbs that have been around a long time. For example, I could never cure chronic sinus infections with antibiotics. All I ever got after taking them was candida yeast in my gut. I now use Echinacea, Golden Seal and sometimes Grapefruit Seed Extract or tea tree oil and haven't had any problems. And why don't we know about these wonderful alternatives to drugs? It's called the FDA! They don't make a dime on herbs and supplements.
a razor blade works too and gorilla tape
Guys this treatment was available to the ancient Egyptians & it failed to work for them too. Go see a real medical doctor quickly. If it does not clear up after normal treatment, then go see an infectious disease specialist.
It's 10 pm, do you know where your penis is?
?
Congrats to gonorrhea on becoming a superbug! Or did I misunderstand.......
We can all stand up and clap for the clap!
In the U.S., gonorrhea rates are half what they were 20 years ago. Why doesn't the article state that?
Because this article isn't about the US or its world class ranking for STDs. Besides STDs are on the rise – again. What difference does it make if they are down in the US right now. They are moving up. It has nothing to do with character and everything to do with access to healthcare and knowledge to protect yourself.
Ms. Hazel, of course the rates in the US are relevant (don't kid yourself–this is a US-oriented site). You also do not seem to be aware that US rates are below those in most of the world (including Western Europe). Only East Asia and Australia-NZ have lower rates. If there are more antibiotic resistant strains, yet the total number of cases has gone way down, that can be very meaningful in the epidemiology.
If you look at the data in Fig 14 in the CDC's newest STD Surveillance Report, it's very hard to convince me that STD rates in the US "are moving up." Why not acknowledge an impressive public health success? Worldwide, it varies. Data is often poor. But generally, though this varies by country, rates have gone down. Where are you getting your data? I am looking at the CDC and WHO publications.
As for your your last point, "It has nothing to do with character and everything to do with access to healthcare and knowledge to protect yourself," I mostly agree, as it is hard to infer someone's "character" based on their disease status. But there are many, many people who get infected though they know perfectly well what the risks are, yet they choose to expose themselves (and, subsequently, their other partners). Don't remove personal responsibility from the picture. You need knowledge, access to healthcare, AND personal responsibility to reduce STDs.
"It has nothing to do with character", Hazel? So then why do people (both guys and ladies) who refrain from sex until marriage, and remain monogamus in marriage, have FAR lower rates of STD's?
Agree with flippy dip flip.
Dan in Tampa you are a fool, but if improving the odds of obtaining the bacteria works for you.....whos stopping ya...
Our greatest enemy is microbes, animal virus, mosquitos...were doomed.
Humans and germs were around for hundreds of thousands of years before the first antibiotic was sold. No doom here. There are over 7 billion of us. Even something 90% lethal couldn't wipe us out. There are always people with natural immunity. Antibiotic resistance is bad, but it won't wipe us out.
For some reason, I think underdeveloped countries would actually be at LESS of a risk of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea (or any other antibiotic resistent infection), simply due to the fact that they don't have many doctors and don't throw antibiotics at EVERYTHING.
That is how these infections/diseases have become antibiotic-resistant: Westerners and "civilized" people who think they must take a pill for every malady and imperfection in their lives.
Yes!
Treat your body like a dumpster and it's going to get dirty.
It's the gift that keeps on giving!
"It's not the clap, it's a standing ovation!"
It's also the results of encore performances.
Abstinence is the only sure answer.
until some one decides for you that you will not be abstinent.
well, dave, go ahead and abstain and tell everyone how it works out. i won't, and we'll compare notes in a few weeks.
@sarah – carry a gun
What is taboo to mention is that THIS is the new STD for blacks and gays. People who repeatedly practice unsafe sex – especially anal sex – and repeatedly are given antibiotics = super bug is created. IT'S ANOTHER PROMISCUOUS GAY MEN'S DISEASE.
because straight caucasians NEVER sleep around, Lonny? You're hilarious.
I take it you're speaking from personal experience, with regard to the whole sex with gay & black men thing...
More bogus reporting by cnn news, this only happens in third world countries that don't have the knowledge or resources to properly treat infections. and sunjay gupta is a fraud and an idiot
Yes, you're right, no American has an STD.
They make take our lives, but they'll never take my penis!
I'e never met you, but I'll just guess that hardly anyone has ever taken your penis...
Uhhhh, honey, there's something I have to tell you...
Look at this map. It's mostly in the south and Alaska. It figures. All of that inbreeding....
http://www.cdc.gov/std/health-disparities/location.htm
Proof of evolution
I wonder how Elizabeth Cohen is in bed. I'd definitely give it a spin
Ditto!
Promiscuous sex leads to diseases. Better to get married and stay faithful to your spouse.
Or just go from one virgin to the next. Nah, just kidding. The truth is that getting married for the sake of avoiding STDs is 1950s type advice. Nowadays, marrying in your late teens/early 20s is a horrible idea for most young people. Expecting them to remain chaste is cruel and unrealistic. The healthiest advice we could all benefit from with regard to our sexual practices would be to practice sex within the context of a loving, committed relationship... really freakin' often!
"Expecting them to remain chaste is cruel and unrealistic"
no, it is called self-discipline and it will lead to a happier life to control one's genitals.
@ jake, go ahead and practice abstinence for a few weeks and let me know how it works out. If you are currently practicing long-term abstinence, well, sorry, man...
We were meant to love and be loved. Preaching the merit and pertinence of self-control is unrealistic, not many will follow your plan here. If you want to give helpful, effective advice, you've got to be more realistic about how normal people really are and what they'll respond to.
Or... get married and stay married. Novel concept in this day and age........
It has been a while, but I've just had a lot going on. A lot going on that enriches my life, like helping with my kids and working hard to provide.
If sex is all you have in life to make you happy, then I am sorry for you – I don't need your apologies.
Love and sex are two VERY different things, Special. Read 1st Cor 13:4-7 sometime.
@ well aren't you special
We are meant to love and be loved. But you can love without sex. It's not as difficult as you think it is.
It hasn't been hard to stay married for 30 years. All you have to do is think with the big head & not the little one when you choose a life partner. Everyone will age & get wrinkles. Intelligence, laughter, kindness, compassion, & similar outlooks never fade. First look for those & then add the fizz of attraction. Without them the fizz wears off rather quickly. Sex alone just does not measure up. There are going to be times you will have to content yourself while one or the other has an issue but it is like a banked fire...ready to flame up in the hearth even when there is snow on the roof. A committed monogamous relationship (for whatever orientation) actually is the best way to avoid any STD.
None of you are addressing the pertinent points of my argument: that marrying YOUNG is generally a bad idea and that marriage is not the only healthy, committed union in which 2 people can have a beautiful sex life.
I LOVE HOT DOGS!!
yeah, just never forget the CONDIMENTS!
Well, good thing i'm already engageg, but now I worry for my future children and other generations. We gotta fund the scientists and medical professionals so they can come up with cures to many of these major diseases. Those issues are far more important than funding half the garbage our country does.
And, of course, people could stop overuse of antibiotics, including antibiotic hand soaps and dish detergents. Plain old soap and water cleans hands and dishes very effectively and doesn't give rise to antibiotic resistance. As for this article, not to minimize the issue, but most people, including sexually active people, will never contract gonorrhea. There are 7 billion humans, and most are free of any life-threatening STD. And although exposure to herpes virus is nearly universal, most people will never experience symptoms. If there's any bright side to resistant germs, it's this: it drives development of new antibiotics. The next "drug of last resort" will be a gold mine during the years that its patent is active. Pharmaceutical companies know this. You need not fear for future generations.
Condoms suck! But, catching a STD is worse than wearing one.
you just summarized the whole article.
Sex is so much fun, why do the diseases come with it?
Satan is responsible for the spread of disease. God said be fruitful and multiply. Christians have it all wrong. God wants you to have sex. Even in mythology the Gods would swoop down and have sex, at will.
Playijng outdoors on a sunny days is so much fun, why does skin cancer have to come with it? The answer, of course, is that the disease is not an inevitable consequence of the activity. Same with sex. Most people who have sex will never encounter gonorrhea. This is a very important article, but most people who read it will never need to worry about it.
The immigrants brought them to America.....In the 1600s.
We are all going to die of something.
The best advice for all of us was stated in the article: use condoms correctly and systematically & don't sleep around too much if you're not in a committed relationship.
some US govt.agency is probably already figuring out a way to spread it in the US..
That way already exists. It's called international travel. For example, when Christopher Columbus' men made their voyage to the Americas in 1492, they brought diseases with them, too. Drug-resistant gonorrhea will develop here on its own eventually, but it will likely be brought here by travelers, too. Bad, yes, but most of us will never be exposed to it.
Another reason to keep your legs closed.
GT say it correct another reason to put an asprin between your legs!
The best solution: Unless you married it, keep it out of it.
Clearly, this is nothing to clap about.
That was a querky and cute response ........Jymbeau
DOES BIEBER KNOW ABOUT THIS?
Sorry the asprin should be put between your knees?
Blame my generation. Over 40 years since I sat through a sex ed class and they're still saying, "Practice safe sex – correct and consistent use of condoms – and limit the number of sexual partners." Pretty simple and reasonably effective, but honestly, who can expect teens bumpin uglies in a hormone-charged moment in the back seat of dad's car to use a condom effectively (if at all). We brought you HIV, super strains of HPV and Chlamydia, and skyrocketing rates of teen pregnancies... But hey, it sure beats strummin the banjo or chokin the bishop.
Except, of course, strumming the banjo and choking the bishop are as effective as abstinence but much more fun. Teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are nothing new. They've been with us for as long as our species has existed. No living generation introduced them. Humans are primates, and primates in general are very sexually active. Humans were having sex long before anyone ever conceived of such a thing as marriage or monogamy. And even married people strum the banjo and choke the bishop from time to time.
Here is an idea, don't have sex until you are married and only have sex with your spouse for the rest of your life.
Works like a charm. But sadly, there are those out there who don't seem to believe in person responsibility.....
Sounds like a boring life. And married people rarely have sex for the rest of thier lives, at least, according to my parents and every other married couple I've met.
Did they say you can die from this strain of gonorrhea?
Mmmmmm....gonorrhea
Strap up, strap up, strap up.
Umm, I've been trolling here a few minutes and to my overwhelming surprise (sarcasm), there are a lot of simpletons either advocating abstinence until marriage or having some sort of spiritual moment...
My reaction is that these people are just not in touch with the world around them. I understand that in utopic fantasy land, everyone is perfectly sexually fulfilled with their spouse whom they have been madly in love with since their courtship in their young adult lives, and that they discovered the pleasures of the flesh on their wedding night.
Such a fantasy is unrealizable in the real world. Therefore, rather than give condescending, irrelevant, poorly-thought-out advice, try putting on your thinking caps, seriously considering the various aspects of modern life for single people, and most of all, live out the compassion of religious teaching rather than getting all hung up on morality for others.
Also, if you advocate abstinence, practice it for a while and see how firm you remain in your opinion on the matter.
Maybe if doctors stopped handing out antibiotics like candy the viruses wouldn't be adapting.
what? your comment is so full of fail I don't know where to start.
I don't understand, according to all the sitcoms sex is great and getting it on for one night is the highest form of achievement. Racking up one more conquest proves your personhood. This report must be put up by those religious fanatics.
Keep you zipper up guys....
Way to go irresponsible humans. By all means keep prescribing antibiotics for anything and everything needed or not. That being said all you cry babies keep going to the doctors and insisting on antibiotics needed or not.
The concern here isn't sex. It is about antibiotics being over prescribed for everything. This isn't the only dangerous antibiotic resistant disease out there.
This will get rid of OWS.
I had a 72 Superbug. It was yellow and we called him Col. Klink.
lol!
A lot of mature respones for a serious matter.
I limited my number of partners and used protection, including proper prophylactic usage, getting routine tests, practicing monogomy, and following the 6 month rule (no new partners unless it's been 6 months since the last partner, with a clean test). And I now have 2 STD's. Thanks, law of averages.