It is about time that Nairobians go slow on fornication. Because a new strand of gonorrhea that is resistant to most drugs used to treat the disease is reportedly in Nairobi.
As reported by The Star, the new pathogen of gonorrhea is endangering the lives of many. And experts have expressed concern as they reveal that many Nairobians are bearing the disease albeit unknowingly even though it poses a huge threat to their reproductive health.
This new drug-resistant gonorrhea was isolated from a sample taken from one of 24 sick sex workers from Nairobi last year.
Research
The researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KeMRI) stated that those with the disease rarely exhibit any clinical signs or symptoms. They add that the disease resists the drugs that are normally used to combat it.
“The results showed complete resistance to all the antimicrobials,” Amina Abdullahi, a KeMRI researcher, is quoted by The Star as having said. The findings suggest that the disease is majorly transmitted by the city’s commercial sex workers.
So Amina tested the isolated bacterium against 13 antimicrobials which comprise the mainstay antibiotics for the disease in Kenya. “The result showed complete 100% resistance to all the antimicrobials,” she reported.
The drugs that failed included ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone, which are in the current STI treatment algorithm in Kenya. “The finding from the present study shows possible multidrug-resistant gonorrhea circulating among female sex workers in Nairobi, which is of concern,” she said.
WHO speaks on gonorrhea
The World Health Organization says gonorrhea is the second-most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide after chlamydia.
The WHO blames the resistance on overuse of antibiotics, poor-quality drugs and genetic mutations of the bacteria.
“The emergence of different forms of resistance in gonorrhea is often followed by a rapid spread of the disease,” said Dr Teodora Wi, WHO Medical Officer specializing in STIs.
Source- The Star