CDC warns antibiotics for gonorrhea largely obsolete

Patients and clinicians must be aware of which antibiotics to use when treating gonorrhea and other communicable diseases, announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.

As part of its new program, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work, the CDC has released a list of bacterial diseases and their appropriate treatment methods online. The campaign is intended to prevent the explosion of drug-resistant “superbugs.”

For gonorrhea, the agency points to just one class of antibiotics, called cephalosporins. All others have been over-prescribed, it adds, allowing the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae to become increasingly resistant to treatment.

It also recommends taking antibiotics for gonorrhea exactly as prescribed and using no more than necessary to eliminate the infection.

To prevent the spread of the disease, the CDC recommends abstinence or condom use, along with routine STD screening. Individuals who believe they have contracted gonorrhea may consider using an online testing service.

More than 350,000 Americans report gonorrheal infections each year, half of the total number of yearly cases estimated by the CDC.