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Gonorrhea is becoming incurable
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Gonorrhoea, which infects millions of people every year, is becoming increasingly drug-resistant and could soon become untreatable, the World Health Organization has warned.
Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea, which is spread from person to person through sexual intercourse. People with gonorrhea often have no symptoms, but the disease can lead to serious complications, including infertility, chronic pelvic pain in women, and epididymitis (inflammation of the epididymis) in men. If the bacteria gets into your bloodstream or joints, you can die. Children born to women with gonorrhea are half as likely to suffer from eye infections that can lead to blindness.
Gonorrhea, once considered a disease of sailors and soldiers, became easily curable with the discovery of penicillin. Today, it is the second most common sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia. WHO experts believe that gonorrhea is responsible for 106 million cases of the disease each year. The infection also increases the likelihood of developing other diseases, including HIV.
Gonorrhea has already developed resistance to cephalosporins, the only remaining class of antibiotics that doctors recommend to eradicate STDs. In just a few years, the bacteria could become resistant to all drugs available today, turning into a superbug.
Gonorrhea resistance to cephalosporins was first reported in Japan, and recently doctors in the UK, Australia, France, Sweden and Norway have encountered the same problem. Because these countries have very well-developed health care systems, there is little doubt that cephalosporin-resistant strains of gonorrhea are circulating undetected in other countries.
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