Allegheny County public health workers are on the hunt for antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea.
Ceftriaxone is currently the antibiotic de jure used to treat the sexually transmitted bacterial infection. It’s highly effective, but that might not always be the case. Gonorrhea has a history of developing resistance to antibiotics, including penicillin, which means the disease could go from being easily treatable to debilitating.
Since June, the Allegheny County Health Department says its public health laboratory has been one of a number across the country working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor gonorrhea.
Of the 797 specimens sampled by Allegheny County Health Department, just 79 were identified as having gonorrhea and none were found to be Ceftriaxone resistant.
“That’s a sign of relief,” said laboratory director Dr. Bob Wadowsky. “There has been some resistance detected throughout the country, and the goal for this project is to keep [it]to less than 2% of the strains.”
Additionally, none of the samples were resistant to Cefixime, an oral antibiotic that’s also sometimes used to treat gonorrhea, though it’s less effective.
Central Outreach Wellness Center, Allies for Health and Wellbeing, and the county’s STD clinic are contributing samples for monitoring.
