Excessive use of antibiotics to treat Covid-19 has led to a rise in cases of gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
According to the World Health of Organisation (WHO), the overuse of antibiotics to treat coronavirus has caused transmitted infection to find a new way to thrive, reports said, adding that the excess use of antibiotics in the wake of the outbreak of the new Covid strain may lead to a rise in “super gonorrhoea” cases.
Experts fear that the highly drug-resistant STI may even become untreatable.
The WHO states that cases of gonorrhoea may become even more resistant to the recommended treatments like azithromycin, which has seen an increase in usage during the pandemic, a British media outlet reported.
"These are extensively drug-resistant gonorrhoea with high-level resistance to the current recommended treatment for gonorrhoea (ceftriaxone and azithromycin) including resistance to penicillin, sulphonamides, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, macrolides," another report quoted WHO Medical Officer Dr. Teodora Wi as saying.
Now, an increasing number of cases have been found all over the world as antibiotics are being used unnecessarily to treat Covid-19. This and a lack of STI services in the time of the pandemic could also be fuelling the rise of 'super gonorrhoea', a WHO spokesman told The Sun Online.
“Overuse of antibiotics in the community can fuel the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhoea. Azithromycin – a common antibiotic for treating respiratory infections -- was used for Covid-19 treatment earlier in the epidemic," the spokesman was quoted as saying in the report.
Gonorrhoea is an STI caused by the bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It can be transmitted by body fluids in the form of discharge. The organism multiplies well mostly in warm and moist parts of the reproductive tract such as the vagina, uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and urethra of both men and women.
Super gonorrhoea is a more severe strain of gonorrhoea as it becomes drug-resistant. It develops a high level of resistance to the antibiotics used to treat the infection.