Developing new strategies against gonorrhea is a public health priority, as the bacteria that cause this sexually transmitted infection are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. Without effective treatment, there is a risk of the spread of multidrug-resistant disease. That's why the results of an international study are so promising, demonstrating the effectiveness of a treatment that has the potential to help curb the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and make gonorrhea treatment more accessible worldwide. It's called zoliflodacin, requires only one dose—in pill form—and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is already considering its approval.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a public health problem throughout Europe. In our country, they are increasingly common: since 2010, they have increased by an average of 32.4% each year, and in 2023 alone, 37,571 cases were diagnosed. There is now a long waiting list to obtain the HIV preventive pill, a treatment called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). At the BCN Checkpoint, the reference center for the fight against HIV and STIs in the Catalan capital, 4,000 people are waiting to begin treatment, but the wait time is already two years. Professionals complain that they do not have sufficient resources to treat everyone and regret that the process is taking so long that they are already detecting the first infected among users waiting. According to ARA, the center has already begun work to move to a larger building starting in February of next year to reverse these waiting lists.

It is the first antibiotic created in three decades and could help combat the global rise of one of the world's most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Gepotidacin, an antimicrobial approved for use in urinary tract infections, has been shown to control the Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes gonorrhea. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted that the origin of gonorrhea is a priority pathogen for the scientific community, both due to its rapid spread and because it is capable of evading the antibiotic effects of first-line treatment with cephalosporins, macrolides (such as the famous azithromycin), and influenza. Last year alone, gonorrhea caused 82 million new cases in people between 15 and 49 years of age worldwide.

Sexually transmitted infections are a public health problem throughout Europe. In our country, these diseases are increasingly numerous: since 2010 they have increased by an average of 32.4% each year, and in 2023 37,571 cases were diagnosed. In fact, Catalonia exceeds the European and Spanish average for all sexual infections. Behind this increase in casesHowever, there are many factors. On the one hand, many diagnostic tests are carried out, extensive screenings are carried out in which people who do not show symptoms of the disease are detected, and there is a surveillance network that allows more people to be diagnosed than in neighbouring countries. On the other hand, there is an increase in risky sexual behaviour, a drop in condom use and an increase in the number of sexual partners that a person has. All of this has created a breeding ground for these infections to rise steadily in recent years.