A new strain of treatment-resistant gonorrhea has been detected in Austria, with researchers suspecting that treatment of the sexually transmitted disease resulted in a failure.
“Worryingly, this is the second strain in an Asian Neisseria gonorrhoeae genomic sub-lineage,” wrote the authors of an April study published in Eurosurveillance. “Enhanced resistance surveillance and actions are imperative to prevent spread.”
The new gonorrhea strain detected was defined as an extensively drug-resistant strain with resistance both against ceftriaxone and azithromycin, the recommended treatment combination to prevent antibiotic resistance development.
Further tests on the strain found it to also be resistant to cefixime, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline—all antibiotics used to treat gonorrhea….