Drug-resistant gonorrhea is becoming more difficult — and sometimes impossible — to treat, according to the World Health Organization.
The WHO has identified widespread resistance to older and cheaper antibiotics in gonorrhea strains around the world. Some nations with more advanced pathogen surveillance have identified gonorrhea infections resistant to all known forms of antibiotics.
"The bacteria that cause gonorrhea are particularly smart. Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them," said Dr. Teodora Wi, a medical officer in the WHO's department of reproductive health. "These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg, since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries where gonorrhea is actually more common."
Nearly 80 million people are infected with gonorrhea annually, according the WHO.
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