Antibiotic-resistant cases of the sexually transmitted illness gonorrhea have more than quadrupled in the United States. This new data, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, should serve as a warning that “the future of current treatment options may be in jeopardy,” the agency said in a news release issued Thursday. “The confluence of emerging drug resistance and very limited alternative options for treatment creates a perfect storm for future gonorrhea treatment failure in the U.S.,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, who directs the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention. “History shows us that bacteria will find a way to outlast the antibiotics we’re using to treat it,” Mermin said. “We are running just one step ahead in order to preserve the remaining treatment option for as long as possible.” For now, the multidrug therapy that the CDC recommends for gonorrhea “still works,” the agency said, and there’s not yet been a U.S. case where treatment completely failed.
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