The World Health Organization released updated guidelines Tuesday for the treatment of three common sexually transmitted infections — chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis —because of the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
All three of these common STIs are treatable with antibiotics, but have become increasingly resistant to the drugs most often used to treat them. For instance, multidrug-resistant strains of gonorrhea-causing bacteria have been detected, and the STI could soon become untreatable by antibiotics, the CDC announced in July. Chlamydia and syphilis have also been developing resistance to some antibiotics.
"Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are major public health problems worldwide, affecting millions of peoples' quality of life, causing serious illness and sometimes death. The new WHO guidelines reinforce the need to treat these STIs with the right antibiotic, at the right dose, and the right time to reduce their spread and improve sexual and reproductive health. To do that, national health services need to monitor the patterns of antibiotic resistance in these infections within their countries," said Ian Askew, director of reproductive health and research with WHO.
In the new guidance, WHO does not recommend using quinolones to treat gonorrhea because of widespread, high levels of resistance. Instead, health authorities should track prevalence of gonorrhea strains' resistance to other antibiotics and advise providers which antibiotic would be most effective, based on local patterns of resistance. Click here for the full updated gonorrhea treatment guidance.
For syphilis, WHO's new guidelines encourage the use of a single dose of benzathine penicillin, which is injected into a patient's thigh or buttock, as it is more effective and less expensive than oral antibiotics. Click here for the full updated syphilis treatment guidance.
Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STI, according to the WHO. Click here to see WHO's full updated chlamydia treatment guidance.