Oral sex producing antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea superbug; WHO rings alarm bells as last-resort antibiotics may soon fail

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently revealed that oral sex is producing dangerous gonorrhoea and that a decline in the use of condoms is helping the infection spread faster. Moreover, the sexually transmitted infection (STI) is developing dangerously strong resistance to antibiotics.

WHO warned that if one contracts gonorrhoea, it will be much harder to treat the infection, and in some cases, impossible. The STI’s resistance to antibiotics is widespread, WHO revealed after analysing data from 77 countries. About 78 million people contract the STI every year. The infection is capable of causing infertility as well.

In Spain, France and Japan, the infection was untreatable, WHO’s Dr. Teodora Wi explained. “Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug, every time you introduce a new class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea, the bug becomes resistant ... These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg,” she told BBC News.

The infection may affect the rectum and genitals. Health officials, however, are most worried about the STI affecting the throat. When a patient pops an antibiotic pill for a normal sore throat, the Neisseria species mixes with the antibiotic, thus developing resistance. Performing oral sex on a partner, the bacteria is thrust into this environment. This can lead to super-gonorrhoea.

Resistance to antibiotic may also come from men having sex with other men because of pharyngeal infection. A decline in condom use is reportedly making things worse. Gonorrhoea spreads via unprotected anal, oral and vaginal sex. Most of the time, there are no recognisable symptoms at first, but it may include a thick yellow or green discharge from sexual organs or bleeding between periods. Pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility may occur if left untreated.

The infection can also be passed on to children during pregnancy. It is only a matter of time before last-resort gonorrhoea antibiotics fail. Ultimately, vaccines will be needed to stop the sexually transmitted disease, WHO believes.

“Ever since the introduction of penicillin, hailed as a reliable and quick cure, gonorrhoea has developed resistance to all therapeutic antibiotics. In the past 15 years therapy has had to change three times following increasing rates of resistance worldwide. We are now at a point where we are using the drugs of last resort, but there are worrying signs as treatment failure due to resistant strains has been documented,” said Prof. Richard Stabler from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.