Gonorrhoea is the second most common bacterial
sexually transmitted infection (STI) in England. In
2011, new diagnoses rose to nearly 21,000, jumping
25 per cent in one year. Over a third of cases were
in men who have sex with men, up from around a
quarter in 2010. GRASP 2011 data suggest that up to
third of reported cases were repeat gonorrhoea
infections.
Professor Cathy Ison, lead author of the GRASP
Action Plan, HPA, said: “Ensuring treatment
resistant gonorrhoea strains do not persist and
spread remains a major public health concern. The
GRASP Action Plan raises awareness of this important
issue and sets out practical, measurable actions to
extend the useful life of the current recommended
therapies in England and Wales.”
In England and Wales, the risk of gonorrhoea
resistance developing in current first-line
therapies (ceftriaxone and azithromycin) fell
slightly for the first time in five years in 2011.
However, cases of treatment failure have now been
reported globally and, with no new antimicrobial
agents in the pipeline, England’s Chief Medical
Officer recently advised government to add the
threat of infection resistance to frontline
antibiotics to the civil emergencies risk register.
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer,
said: "We have seen a worrying rise in cases of drug
resistant gonorrhoea over the last decade.
Antimicrobial resistance to common drugs will
increasingly threaten our ability to tackle
infections and the Health Protection Agency's work
is vital to addressing this threat. As Chief Medical
Officer, and with the Department of Health, I am
supporting the work of the HPA with my forthcoming
annual report Volume Two, which focuses on
infections and antimicrobial resistance, and the
Department's new UK five year Antimicrobial
Resistance Strategy and Action Plan."
The GRASP Action Plan supports the public health
control of gonorrhoea, and gonorrhoea resistance, by
providing guidance on robust and timely data
collection, rapid detection of treatment failures,
adherence to management guidelines, and actions to
reduce gonorrhoea transmission.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of STI surveillance at the
HPA, said: “We are seriously concerned about
continuing high levels of gonorrhoea transmission
and repeat infection, suggesting we need to do more
to reduce unsafe sexual behaviour. The GRASP Action
Plan advocates comprehensive health promotion
programmes to encourage safer sexual behaviour,
particularly in higher risk groups such as men who
have sex with men, alongside maintaining good access
to STI screening and sexual health services.”
For more information
WHO: Urgent action needed to prevent the spread of
untreatable gonorrhoea (12/06/2012)
Novel pathway responsible for a common sexually
transmitted infection identified (09/03/2012)
Is Neisseria gonorrhoeae Initiating a Future Era of
Untreatable Gonorrhea? (12/07/2011)
http://www.hpa.org.uk
(MDN)
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