“Super gonorrhea,” or antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, has triggered a new public health concern among doctors in the U.S.
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported notifiable disease in the United States. In 2009, 301,174 cases of gonorrhea were reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at a rate of 99.1 cases per 100,000 population.
According to the CDC, more than 700,000 people in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year. Less than half of the infections, however, are reported to the CDC.
The CDC reported that the South has the highest gonorrhea rate — 133.2 cases per 1000, 000 — among the four regions of the country. Additionally, rates in the South and Midwest remained higher than rates in the Northeast and West.
Other statistics show that in 2009, rates were highest among adolescent and young adults. Women ages 15-19 and 20-24 years of age had the highest rates. The men’s highest rates were among the ages of 20-24 years.
An antibiotic for the STD has been in use since the 1940s. Treatment for the infection, however, has progressively developed a form of resistance.
Penicillin was once used to cure the infection, but as time went on, cephalosporin injection — ceftriazone or “Rocephin” — was the only drug. Now, gonorrhea has to be treated by dual therapy with either azithromycin or doxycycline, an oral drug to accommodate cephalosporin in curing the infection.
Board-certified nurse practitioner Mary P. White, known to many on campus as “Nurse Mary,” said Wayne State’s Campus Health Center takes great precaution when it comes to STDs and antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in particular.
“The Campus Health Center has been using this dual therapy for gonorrhea infections since late last year when the information initially came out of the CDC,” White said.
White stressed the importance of testing in order to combat the risks.
“What is most important is to continue to encourage students to get tested at least once a year (and) more often if having unprotected sex with more than one partner,” she said.
To help spread the information out about being safe, White began using Twitter to disperse important health and, specifically, STD information for WSU students.
Some students have found the CHC’s impetus to educate welcome and helpful.
“Wayne State does a great job with getting the information out about STDs to their students, especially those who live on campus,” said WSU film major junior Jeane Holt.