Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Gonorrhea has had high incidences in the whole world. The complication of treatment of the disease in newborns and women and its amplification due to human immunodeficiency infections has prioritized its control. The rise of drug resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae has however posed an even greater challenge in control of the disease. Drug-resistant strains of this type have made most drugs ineffective. According to Tapsall (2001), some of the drugs whose effectiveness has been compromised by drug-resistant strains include such as spectinomycin, quinolones, tetracyclines, penicillins, ciprofloxacin and macrolides.
According to US Department of Health and Human Services (2013) drug resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae poses the threat of increased cost of treatment, that otherwise would be avoidable. The drug-resistant strains also necessitate prolonged treatment that results in resource misuse. The effectiveness of treatment and prevention is compromised as well as the need for more health workers that incur more healthcare cost. Moreover, drug-resistant strains also pose the threats of increased rate of disability and deaths compared to wild infections that are easy to treat. World Health Organization (2011) accounts for increased decline in the health status especially regarding reproduction, maternal and that of the newborn.
There are various ways of preventing drug-resistant strain infections. Some of the preventive measures include effective treatment using appropriate antibiotics as well as a proper and effective diagnosis (Tapsall, 2001; World Health Organization, 2011). Moreover, systematic monitoring of the resistant strains is also indispensable as a preventive measure. Mass treatment is also an effective prevention method. Prophylactic and curative treatment of the of patient groups prospected to have high transmission rates helps to reduce infectiousness and transmissibility of the drug resistant strains as well as the wild types.
References
Tapsall, J. (2001). Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae (pp. 1-58). Geneva: World Health Organization.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA: http://www. cdc. gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013.
World Health Organization. (2011). Emergence of multi-drug resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae: threat of global rise in untreatable sexually transmitted infections.
