A new, highly drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea has been detected in North England. With 15 cases of super-gonorrhea, as the disease is now being called, being detected by Public Health England (PHE), a nationwide alert on the new sexually transmitted disease has been issued, according to The Telegraph.
The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV has stated that the first case of the new disease was first detected in Leeds in March 2015. Since the initial outbreak, the disease has spread, with cases being reported in patients from Macclesfield, Oldham and Scunthorpe.
Unlike the typical strain of the disease, which is normally treated with a two-drug cocktail, this strain has developed a strong resistance to azithromycin, one of the antibiotics used for treatment, reports US News.
Though the number of infected patients remain small, Peter Greenhouse, a consultant in sexual health, stated that the characteristics of the new strain might mean that there are more cases that have just remained undetected.
"This azithromycin highly-resistant outbreak is the first one that has triggered a national alert," he said, adding "It doesn't sound like an awful lot of people, but the implication is there's a lot more of this strain out there and we need to stamp it out as quickly as possible."
Around 10 percent of men and almost 50 percent of women with the disease do not experience its symptoms immediately, which usually causes the disease to be left untreated for a long period of time.
More news about the disease? Click here.
