Several Gonorrhoea Patients In UK Still Prescribed With Outdated Antibiotics

Prescriptions for antibiotics no longer recommended for the treatment of gonorrhoea are still being given out by general practitioners, according to a published study. A study headed by U.K. researchers found that some doctors are not updated with the new clinical guidelines in prescribing antibiotics and still prescribe them even if they are no longer recommended.

According to National Health Service U.K., antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at an alarming rate and antibiotic resistance is considered as one of Europe’s patients’ significant threats. The ineffectiveness of some antibiotics is due to overusing and inappropriate prescribing of the drugs.

Ciprofloxacin was once a common antibiotic given to gonorrhoea patients but is no longer recommended for treatment since 2005. However, the published study found in BMJ Open reveals that the antibiotic is still prescribed in 2011 to 25 percent of patients. Researchers said that the failure to be updated with national clinical guidance poses a great concern considering the existing problem of antibiotic resistance.

The research headed by Public Health England aims to determine how general practice diagnose gonorrhoea and Chlamydia in England and if GP treatment regimen complied with the set national guidelines.

For the study, researchers analysed electronic health records contributed anonymously to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which is a database of health records from 5.5 million patients under 680,000 general practices. Researchers specifically looked at how GPs treated both sexually transmitted diseases between 2000 and 2011.

The results revealed that GPs diagnosed approximately 193,000 Chlamydia patients and almost 17,000 gonorrhoea patients during the study period, as reported in EurekAlert. The study also found that 90 percent of Chlamydia patients receive national clinical guidelines-recommended antibiotics, but the same thing cannot be said for gonorrhoea patients.

The researchers concluded in their study that GPs greatly help in the diagnosis and treatment of different sexually transmitted infections. While most of the Chlamydia patients received appropriate treatments, “significant numbers” of gonorrhoea patients did not.

Researchers warn practitioners that antibiotic resistance seen in gonorrhoea is a significant global problem that may also be seen in Chlamydia in the future. They advise practitioners to remain alert to any revisions done to national treatment guidelines.

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