Epidemiological Trends of Antibiotic Resistant Gonorrhoea in the United Kingdom

Antibiotics

Xavier Didelot¹  LilithK. Whittles¹  PeterJ. White¹  John Paul² 

[1] Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK;Department of Microbiology, Public Health England Collaborative Centre, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton BN2 5BE, UK;

关键词: gonorrhoea;    antibiotic resistance;    cephalosporins;    azithromycin;    sexually-transmitted bacterial infections;   

DOI  :  10.3390/antibiotics7030060

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually-transmitted bacterial infections, globally and in the United Kingdom. The levels of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea reported in recent years represent a critical public health issue. From penicillins to cefixime, the gonococcus has become resistant to all antibiotics that have been previously used against it, in each case only a matter of years after introduction as a first-line therapy. After each instance of resistance emergence, the treatment recommendations have required revision, to the point that only a few antibiotics can reliably be prescribed to treat infected individuals. Most countries, including the UK, now recommend that gonorrhoea be treated with a dual therapy combining ceftriaxone and azithromycin. While this treatment is still currently effective for the vast majority of cases, there are concerning signs that this will not always remain the case, and there is no readily apparent alternative. Here, we review the use of antibiotics and epidemiological trends of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea from surveillance data over the past 15 years in the UK and describe how surveillance could be improved.

【 授权许可】

Unknown