Gonorrhea becoming more antibiotic-resistant, experts warn

At an annual medical congress in Sweden, UK venereologist Catherine Ison warned that gonorrhea is becoming more antibiotic-resistant globally.

Using the antibiotic ciprofloxacin as an example, she cited gonorrhea’s increasing likelihood of being resistant to cephalosporins, a class of antibiotics commonly used to treat the disease.

In 2004, only a decade and a half after ciproflaxin's introduction, an international survey found gonorrhea’s resistance to the medication to be 31 percent. In 2009, that number rose to 63 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that a therapy be modified after just 3 percent resistance.

If left untreated, gonorrhea, whose symptoms include yellowish discharge and painful urination, can lead to pelvic infections and infertility. Online testing services may prove a viable tool to those concerned about their sexual health.

The U.S. sees 700,000 new gonorrheal infections every year, according to a CDC estimate.