The infection that most escapes antibiotics triples in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe 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, which 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 of particular concern 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. 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 of particular concern 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.

The research, published in the journal European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, also warns of growing resistance to drugs. Although gonorrhea can be treated with antibiotics, the accelerated outbreak of cases increases the risk of there being no available treatments in the future. The ability of bacteria to escape these medications increases the more they are exposed to the drug. Therefore, if sexual transmission increases, more people will need the antibiotic, and there will be a greater risk of developing resistance.

The analysis of Catalan samples shows high levels of resistance to various antibiotics, especially ciprofloxacin, which is no longer considered suitable as a treatment because seven out of ten analyzed cases are resistant. In the same direction are tetracycline, which is no longer effective in almost half of gonorrhea cases, and azithromycin, which fails in one out of five cases. The results obtained with this latter antibiotic are of particular concern to the authors, as clinical guidelines include it as part of the therapy, precisely for resistant cases.

Diagnosis and prevention

The study also identifies a higher probability of resistance in adults aged 25 and over and in extragenital infections, such as when detected in the anus. For all these reasons, the authors insist that an adequate diagnosis must be made that includes all possible locations of the infection. They also insist on reinforcing infection prevention measures and raising public awareness for early diagnosis with the aim of curbing the spread of resistant strains.

Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection that, if not treated quickly, can lead to serious complications, especially in women, as it can increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy and infertility. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers gonorrhea 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. 

Last year, the prestigious scientific journal The Lancet recalled in a strong editorial that antimicrobial resistance is considered one of the main global health challenges. "The emergence of different forms of resistance to N. gonorrhoeae is often followed by rapid spread of the disease and, in fact, the prevalence of gonorrhea has increased in the last five years. What we are seeing [with gonorrhea] could easily extend to other bacteria," it warned.