Cases of what is being called “super gonorrhea” are on the rise across the country
A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the April 2014 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, stated that this strand of the sexually transmitted disease resists treatments and has been found in major U.S. cities.
The new strain of gonorrhea has the same effects as treatable gonorrhea, said Samantha Evans, a health promotion specialist at GatorWell Health Promotion Specialists. The danger is the long-term effects the disease has on the body when left untreated.
Resistant strains of the disease first appeared in Hawaii and California and have since spread across the country, according to the study.
The disease could potentially become resistant to treatment because people with gonorrhea stop taking prescribed treatments before the disease is fully out of the body, strengthening it against future medication instead of eliminating it, Evans said.
“People just don’t take the medications for as long as they’re supposed to,” Evans said.
She added that the best way for students to protect themselves from this type of disease is to practice safe sex by using condoms, getting tested regularly and communicating with their partners.
Phylis Craig, associate director of nursing at UF, said she had similar views. Craig, who works in the women’s clinic at the Student Health Care Center, said completing all prescribed medications is crucial when being treated for sexually transmitted diseases.
“I don’t claim to be a biologist, but gonorrhea seems to be a pretty clever bacteria,” she wrote in an email. “It has morphed better than some of the other bacteria to become resistant.”
Craig said she stresses the use of condoms to protect students from not only gonorrhea but also unwanted pregnancies and other common sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and HIV.
Charisse Ahmed, a 21-year-old UF health education and behavior major, said she was shocked by the discovery and spread of “super gonorrhea” in the U.S.
“It is shocking and disappointing to have another (STD) issue,” she said. “It’s becoming more dangerous to have unprotected sex.”
Ahmed said she is an advocate for safe sex and spreading awareness about the risks of unprotected sex.
“Get tested,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/19/2014 under the headline "Super gonorrhea spreading across US can’t be treated by current drugs, CDC reports"]
