Gonorrhea May Become Untreatable STD, Doctors Fear
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Sexually transmitted diseases have plagued humans for thousands of years, and now doctors are concerned that one STD in particular could one day be untreatable.
The particular disease is gonorrhea, the second most common sexually transmitted disease after chlamydia.
"The bacteria that causes gonorrhea has been exposed to so many antibiotics over the years that each one it gets exposed to, the bacterium become resistant," UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program Clinical Professor Emeritus John Swartzberg told KCBS.
So what is being done to address this concern?
"From an antibiotics standpoint, there are several new drugs in the pipeline; the problem with that is it takes a long time for them to be developed and come to market. So, we're a few years away from that," Swartzberg said.
In the meantime, Swartzberg says people need to take the risk of contracting gonorrhea seriously and practice safe sex.
