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The 'superbug' was first discovered in Japan and some health officials have said it could rival AIDS
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Doctors are warning that an antibiotic-resistant strain of
gonorrhoea, now considered a superbug, has the potential to be as deadly
as the AIDS virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Congress for
$50 million to find a new antibiotic to treat the drug-resistant strain
of the disease. The first case in the nation was identified in a young
woman in Hawaii in May 2011.
Health officials are warning that two cases of a so-called ‘sex superbug’ have been confirmed in Hawaii
The ‘sex superbug’ called H041 was first discovered in Japan in 2011.
It spread to Hawaii, and has now surfaced in California and Norway.
‘This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly,’ Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine told CNBC.
Nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes
worldwide, but Christianson believes the effect of the gonorrhea
bacteria is more direct.
‘Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days,’ Christianson said. ‘This is very dangerous.’
Although no deaths from HO41 have been reported as yet, experts say
avoiding the disease completely is the best course of action.
‘People need to practice safe sex, like always,’ Christianson said. ‘Anyone beginning a new relationship should get tested along with their partner. ‘The way gonorrhea works, not everyone knows they have it. And with this new strain it’s even more important than ever to find out.’
Gonorrhea is especially common among people between the ages of 15 and 24.
The disease became curable in the 1940s when penicillin and other
antibiotics were introduced. Since then, the medical world has created
more new drugs that killed the ever-mutating gonorrhea bacteria.
Cephalosporin, the last available class of antibiotics recommended
for the treatment of gonorrhea, has been failing worldwide and there is
the very real prospect that all types of gonorrhea will soon become
untreatable.
Professor Cathy Ison, head of the National Reference Laboratory for Gonorrhoea in the U.K. told the BBC last week: ‘There is a possibility that if we don’t do something then it could become untreatable by 2015.’
Wow! This is serious. Thanks for the heads up.
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