Super Gonorrhoea?

[ElleBelle]

Hi @Nurse_Nettie, I’ve seen some news articles recently (like here) about a new strain of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea that’s being spread through oral sex. Is this something I should be worried about? Does it mean gonorrhoea isn’t treatable anymore?

[CloakOfAsh]

Oh yeah, I saw this too! Very interesting! What’s the go NN?

[Nurse_Nettie]

@ElleBelle drug resistant gonorrhoea is a worry worldwide. It’s a good example of why it’s so important not take antibiotics when you don’t need them & to always finish them completely when they’ve been prescribed to you. That means: don’t use old scripts for new infections. Don’t get antibiotics from friends. Finish the full dose of antibiotics that is prescribed to you, even if the symptoms have gone away.  

 The good news is, here in Australia we can test gonorrhoea for its sensitivity to a range of antibiotics so we can be sure we’re using something that kills it off completely. We also do testing after the treatment is finished to make sure the infection is totally gone. These strategies are not just to make sure the individual is cured, but are also ways of avoiding giving gonorrhoea any chance to evolve against the drugs we’re using.

We will need to find new strategies to fight gonorrhoea in the future though. There’s currently a study in Australia looking at whether certain mouthwashes have an effect at killing gonorrhoea in the throat! That isn’t a final solution but may helpful in some cases. 

Even better than curing gonorrhoea, is not worrying about it to begin with! Condoms are still really effective at preventing gonorrhoea and other STIs in the vagina, bum & throat!

[MsBlueStreak]

@Nurse_Nettie condoms and dental dams… I feel like we don’t talk about dental dams, and how important they are, nearly enough.

[Nurse_Nettie]

@MsBlueStreak You’re right, there’s more than one way to have sex & there’s more than one way to prevent STIs! Gonorrhoea is not easily transmissible through oral-vaginal or oral-anal sex, but it’s not impossible. Dams are another useful tool in your STI prevention toolkit!

[NickiPower]

Wow! I had heard a couple of things but didn’t realise how bad super gonorrhoea is! 

[Author]

Posts