Not anymore. . .

Think if you get the clap, you can just go get a shot or take a pill to be cured?

Not so fast, bucko. There’s now another reason to protect yourself:

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlined laboratory trends from 2000-2010 that show growing resistance of gonorrhea to antimicrobials.  Gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), is a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility and can facilitate HIV transmission. (Press release, National Coalition of STD Directors)

Yep. Gonorrhea. It used to be a serious disease, before antibiotics made it easy to treat. Now that we’ve been taking antibiotics for everything, resistance is setting in and we’re running out of effective drugs to cure it.

…cephalosporin antibiotics are the last line of defense for treating the disease, as the bacteria has developed resistance to all other antibiotics.  The highest level of resistance to cephalosporins, regardless of sexual partner, was found in the Western region of the United States, particularly Hawaii and California, as well as in men who have sex with men in all regions.

“This new data outlines what state and local health departments have been seeing on the ground—that highly untreatable gonorrhea is near,” stated William Smith, Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. “There are currently no new drugs in development for this infection.  If this last class of drugs fails we will have no definitive treatment options for gonorrhea.  We call on researchers, government, and partners in industry to make the development of new, effective drug treatments for gonorrhea a public health priority,” continued Smith.

This is a big deal.

It’s important for sexually active persons to be screened for all STD/STI’s at least every six months, or more often if you have many sexual partners and/or have had unprotected sex- and that includes oral- gonorrhea can easily infect the throat. And, remember, any STD/STI increases the risk of contracting/spreading HIV. From the CDC:

Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems in both women and men.

In women, gonorrhea is a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). About 750,000 women each year in the United States develop PID. The symptoms may be quite mild or can be very severe and can include abdominal pain and fever. PID can lead to internal abscesses (pus-filled “pockets” that are hard to cure) and long-lasting, chronic pelvic pain. PID can damage the fallopian tubes enough to cause infertility or increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube.

In men, gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful condition of the ducts attached to the testicles that may lead to infertility if left untreated.

Gonorrhea can spread to the blood or joints. This condition can be life threatening. In addition, people with gonorrhea can more easily contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV-infected people with gonorrhea can transmit HIV more easily to someone else than if they did not have gonorrhea. (emphasis mine)

We’ve taken the cure for granted for too long. So- be careful out there.

Full article here.