Gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, and could be untreatable in the future, health officials have warned as a report reveals a rise in super-strength cases in England, where last year 85 000 cases were diagnosed.
This is the highest level since records began in 1918, reports The Guardian.
While most cases can be treated, there has been a recent escalation in people diagnosed with strands that are resistant to ceftriaxone, the “first line” antibiotic typically used to treat the infection.
Most of those affected were in their 20s, heterosexua, and acquired the infection abroad, though some had no travel history, said the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which confirmed there had been transmission of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea.
The UKHSA is planning to publish a report highlighting the spike in antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea infections, and urging people to protect themselves by using condoms.
Between June 2022 and May 2024, 15 ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea cases were detected in England. Five involved super-strength strands, which officials said led to “extensively drug-resistant” gonorrhoea, meaning their infections were resistant to first and second-line treatments and other antibiotics.
Some of the 15 had to be admitted to hospital where they were given a cocktail of powerful drugs to prevent the gonorrhoea spreading to other parts of their body.
Before 2022, only nine cases of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea had ever been detected in England.
Dr Helen Fifer, a consultant microbiologist at the UKHSA, said: “Gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, risking the possibility of it becoming untreatable in the future, and leading to serious health issues, including pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.”
Condoms were the best defence, she added.
For people having sex without condoms with new or casual partners, regular testing for STIs like gonorrhoea was “essential” to maintain good sexual health, the UKHSA said.
Professor Matt Phillips, the president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), said the worrying trend needed to be addressed with immediate action.
BASHH, alongside sector partners, had repeatedly called for a sexual health strategy for England, he said. “This must be a priority if our expert sexual health workforce is to effectively meet these growing and changing needs in sexual health.”
The emergence of drug-resistant gonorrhoea comes amid wider concerns about rising levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in England.
There were 401 800 new cases of STIs diagnosed in 2023 – a rise of 4.7% since 2022. Chlamydia cases accounted for almost half of these, with 194 970 diagnoses in 2023.
As well as 85 223 cases of gonorrhoea, there were 9 513 cases of infectious syphilis – the highest number since 1948.
While most syphilis cases were diagnosed among gay and bisexual men, the UKHSA said there was a larger “proportional rise” in syphilis diagnoses among heterosexual men and women.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
European warning on drug-resistant gonorrhoea and rise in infections
First new gonorrhoea drug in 40 years offers promise