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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the rise in gonorrhea amid the COVID-19 pandemic from the overuse of antibiotics, which is causing resistance to the sexually transmitted infection. According to The Sun, a WHO spokesperson has said that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an ideal situation for supergonorrhea to thrive due to the sudden increase in antibiotic use.
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The spokesman for the UN health agency reportedly said that the lack of STI services amid the pandemic could also be causing an increase in gonorrhea cases. The spokesperson added that during the pandemic, more people are self-medicating as hospitals are concerned about COVID-19 cases and are not safe for regular visits. This could drive the emergence of resistance in gonorrhea, including supergonorrhea or widely drug-resistant gonorrhea with a high level of resistance to currently recommended treatment, such as ceftriaxone and azithromycin.
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Gonorrhea cases increase
Gonorrhea is one of the oldest known sexually transmitted infections in the world, with more than 90 million cases worldwide each year. The WHO says the number is increasing at an alarming rate of 17 percent. Although most cases are reported from the African continent, lately the western world has also seen an increase in gonorrhea infection. According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country has seen a 63 percent increase in gonorrhea cases since 2014.
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The United Kingdom, which is the country hardest hit by gonorrhea in Europe, could see more than 4 billion cases each year by 2030. The WHO says the rise in supergonorrhea could cause a five-fold increase in transmission of the gonorrhea. HIV, an increase in cases of infertility. , which has its own cultural and social implications, and serious neonatal eye infections that can lead to blindness.
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