{"id":398457,"date":"2017-07-07T12:06:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T12:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/07\/07\/oral-sex-producing-unstoppable-bacteria\/"},"modified":"2017-07-07T12:06:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T12:06:41","slug":"oral-sex-producing-unstoppable-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/07\/07\/oral-sex-producing-unstoppable-bacteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Oral sex producing unstoppable bacteria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oral sex is producing dangerous gonorrhoea and a decline in condom use is helping it to spread, the World Health Organization has said.<\/p>\n
It warns that if someone contracts gonorrhoea, it is now much harder to treat, and in some cases impossible.<\/p>\n
The sexually transmitted infection is rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics.<\/p>\n
Experts said the situation was \u201cfairly grim\u201d with few new drugs on the horizon.<\/p>\n
Around 78 million people pick up the STI each year and it can cause infertility.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization analysed data from 77 countries which showed gonorrhoea\u2019s resistance to antibiotics was widespread.<\/p>\n
Dr Teodora Wi, from the WHO, said there had even been three cases \u2013 in Japan, France and Spain \u2013 where the infection was completely untreatable.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cGonorrhoea is a very smart bug, every time you introduce a new class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea, the bug becomes resistant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worryingly, the vast majority of gonorrhoea infections are in poor countries where resistance is harder to detect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cases may just be the tip of the iceberg,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Oral sex<\/strong><\/p>\n
Gonorrhoea can infect the genitals, rectum and throat, but it is the last that is most concerning health officials.<\/p>\n
Dr Wi said antibiotics could lead to bacteria in the back of the throat, including relatives of gonorrhoea, developing resistance.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWhen you use antibiotics to treat infections like a normal sore throat, this mixes with the\u00a0Neisseria\u00a0<\/i>species in your throat and this results in resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thrusting gonorrhoea bacteria into this environment through oral sex can lead to super-gonorrhoea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the US, resistance [to an antibiotic] came from men having sex with men because of pharyngeal infection,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
A decline in condom use, which had soared because of fears of HIV\/Aids, is thought to help the infection spread.<\/p>\n
What is gonorrhoea?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/span><\/figure>\n
The disease is caused by the bacterium called\u00a0Neisseria gonorrhoea.<\/i><\/p>\n
The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex.<\/p>\n
Of those infected, about one in 10 heterosexual men and more than three-quarters of women, and gay men, have no easily recognisable symptoms.<\/p>\n
But symptoms can include a thick green or yellow discharge from sexual organs, pain when urinating and bleeding between periods.<\/p>\n
Untreated infection can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and can be passed on to a child during pregnancy.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization is calling on countries to monitor the spread of resistant gonorrhoea and to invest in new drugs.<\/p>\n
Dr Manica Balasegaram, from the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, said: \u201cThe situation is fairly grim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are only three drug candidates in the entire drug [development] pipeline and no guarantee any will make it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
But ultimately, the WHO said vaccines would be needed to stop gonorrhoea.<\/p>\n
Prof Richard Stabler, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: \u201cEver since the introduction of penicillin, hailed as a reliable and quick cure, gonorrhoea has developed resistance to all therapeutic antibiotics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past 15 years therapy has had to change three times following increasing rates of resistance worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Gonorrhoea\"](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/_85602038_c0040143-neisseria_gonorrhoeae-spl.jpg\")
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