CDC Flags Treatment-Resistant Gonorrhea as an "Urgent Threat"

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013, a new report that outlines all critical drug-resistant threats. The development of a strain of gonorrhea which is resistant to all forms of current treatment is a relatively recent phenomenon in the United States, yet the CDC believes that treatment-resistant now makes up about 30% of the more than 800,000 new cases of gonorrhea that occur every year in this country. 

The United States needs additional investments in public health to be prepared for an untreatable gonorrhea epidemic. According to the CDC, if drug-resistant gonorrhea becomes widespread, the public health impact during a 10-year period is estimated to be 75,000 additional cases of pelvic inflammatory disease (a major cause of infertility), and hundreds of additional HIV cases. Babies who contract gonorrhea during birth from their mothers can have additional health problems or disabilities, including blindness.

Gonorrhea is fairly easily spread -- and is much more easily transmitted than HIV -- but consistent use of latex condoms dramatically reduces the risk of transmission.