According to new guidelines recently released from the United Nations health agency it is necessary to reexamine the present treatments for three common sexually transmitted infections: syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
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“Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are major public health problems worldwide, affecting millions of peoples’ quality of life, causing serious illness and sometimes death”, Ian Askew, head of WHO’s reproductive health and research division, said in a statement.
Medical officer Teodora Wi, who was involved in WHO’s update, called gonorrhea a “very smart bug” that repeatedly adapts to new antibiotics.
The U.S. government is spending millions of dollars through the CDC and National Institutes of Health to develop new antibiotics and combat resistance.
World Health Organization estimates that each year, 131 million people are infected with chlamydia around the globe, 78 million with gonorrhoea and 5.6 million with syphilis.
The WHO warned that some antibiotics commonly used to treat these STIs are now failing as a result of misuse and overuse, reducing treatment options.
It is estimated that every year 131 million people are infected with chlamydia, 78 million with gonorrhea and 5.6 million with syphilis.
In recent years, all three infections have become more resistant to antibiotics, with certain strains of gonorrhea resistant to every available antibiotic.
The WHO said although antibiotic resistance in chlamydia and syphilis is less common, prevention and prompt treatment are critical.
The UN health agency has issued fresh guidelines cautioning doctors that it won’t recommend an entire class of antibiotics, quinolones, anymore because of the emergence of quinolone-resistant strains of the disease across the world. In both men and women, untreated gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause infertility, and seriously increase the risk of becoming infected with HIV.
When left undiagnosed and untreated, the three diseases can have serious consequences, causing pelvic infamatory disease and ectopic pregnancy in women, and increasing the chances of miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death.
It can infect the genitals, rectum, and throat.
WHO has also recommended the USA health authorities to identify the drug-resistant patterns of different strains in the locality and advise physicians on the drugs to be prescribed.
Syphilis, if untreated in pregnant women, could spread to the fetus, resulting in the death of the unborn.
To treat syphilis, the guidelines state a single dose of benzathine penicillin – a form of the antibiotic that is injected by a doctor or nurse into the infected patient’s buttock or thigh muscle – is now the most effective treatment.
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Crucially, the health officials warn, doctors must stop over-prescribing antibiotics, and patients must be vigilant about taking the correct doses.
