Gonorrhea Tx Fails at High Rate

In a report from Canada and on the CDC website, Cefixime treatment failure occurred in 6.77% of patients who returned for a test of cure of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in a retrospective cohort study. Note that this study was performed in a single sexual health center that treats high-risk individuals. Of 133 patients who returned for a test of cure following cefixime treatment, 6.77% had a treatment failure, defined as infection with a Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolate identical to the pretreatment isolate and a denial of re-exposure through sexual contact, according to Vanessa Allen, MD, MPH, of Public Health Ontario Laboratories in Toronto, and colleagues.  Comment: as a lab tech in the Army in 1946 before entering medical school one of my jobs was to test groups in Berlin for exposure to gonorrhea and other STDs.  We were just starting to use penicillin successfully for gonorrhea and syphilis, and during the years since I have seen every antibiotic used become resistant for a disease that is almost 100 percent preventable by the use of condoms.  It is incredible to me how hard it is to get men to use condoms routinely and for women to refuse sex with men not using condoms.
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - Category: Epidemiologists Authors: Tags: Community Health infectious diseases Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs