一些医学研究人员7月11日首次确认，淋病出现对抗生素具有抗药性的菌株。
瑞典致病奈瑟氏菌参考实验室研究人员芒努斯·乌内莫告诉法新社记者：“这是具有警示性却可预见的发现。”
“自从抗菌素疗法20世纪40年代成为治疗淋病的标准疗法，这种细菌就展现出对所有治疗药物产生抗药性的能力。”
淋病是一种全球发病率较高的性传播疾病，由细菌感染引发，可引发排尿不适、浓性分泌物和不孕不育等。在美国，每年大约70万人感染这一疾病。
不过，几十年来，治疗淋病并不困难，可使用头孢类抗生素治疗。若对头孢类药物过敏，则可使用阿奇霉素。
乌内莫说，尚不知晓这种“强力”菌株是否已在全球蔓延，但纵观细菌学历史，任何一种产生抗药性的菌株都会迅速传播，“除非我们找到有效治疗方案”。
国际性传播疾病学会研讨会定于10日至13日在加拿大召开。乌内莫及其研究团队将在会议上公布更多研究成果细节。
生物探索推荐英文原文报道：
Scientists warn of "untreatable" strain of gonorrhea
This mutant strain of "the clap," a common STD, was first detected in a Japan sex worker and is resistant to antibiotics.
Scientists are warning of a new, untreatable strain of gonorrhea, discovered in a sex trade worker in Japan.
The mutant strain of gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted disease also known as “the clap,” is resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics, according to research presented at a conference on STDs held in Quebec City, reports Canada’s National Post.
“If it spreads now, we don’t know what should be the recommended treatment,” Swedish researcher Magnus Unemo told the newspaper.
Scientists from the Swedish Reference Laboratory have warned that the new “super” strain of the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhea, dubbed H041, is resistant to cephalosporins, a fourth-generation class of antibiotics. Unemo warned of a “future era of untreatable gonorrhea,” with the STD posing a major threat to public health.
New strains of gonorrhea generally emerge in Japan or South Korea before spreading globally, the National Post said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, there are an estimated 700,000 new cases of gonorrhea in the United States each year.
A July 8, 2011, notice from the CDC asked doctors to be on the lookout for gonorrhea infections that are resistant to cephalosporins, ABC News reports.
Gonorrhea is one of the world’s most common STDs, but if left untreated it can cause serious, life-threatening health complications in both women and men.
Symptoms of gonorrhea include a burning sensation when urinating, and the STD can cause discharge from the genitals, the BBC says. But some 50 percent of women infected with gonorrhea, and 2 to 5 percent of men, have no symptoms.
If untreated, the gonorrhea infection can spread to the skin, blood and other organs, causing pain, infertility and even death.
Japanese condom maker Fuji Latex employee Toru Katsumata displays a florescent-colored condom as part of Japan's Condom Association efforts to educate people about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Scientists have warned that a new strain of the STD gonorrhea has become resistant to antibiotics.
