The relentless rise in sexual infections in Catalonia in recent years has led to over 40,000 cases being diagnosed in a single year for the first time. This is not an isolated increase: these infections are a public health problem across Europe that health authorities attribute to a paradigm shift in sexual behaviors, especially among young people, who use condoms less, have more sexual partners, and engage in more behaviors considered risky. One of the infections that is particularly concerning is gonorrhea, which, according to a study, has tripled in recent years in Catalonia: the incidence of the disease has increased by 236% since 2019, reaching 152.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the 2022-2023 period.

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.