Untreatable super-resistant gonorrhea strain found throughout major countries

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A new gonorrhea strain called H041 that has emerged in Japan, the United States (California and Hawaii), Asia and Norway,has defeated the last successful antibiotic used in treating this sexually transmitted disease.

Studies show that once a resistant strain emerges, it will steadily displace weaker strains that can be destroyed by antibiotics. This leaves the medical field with no option but to use untested treatments against the disease.

The International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (

ISSTDR) in Quebec met with researchers from Sweden and Japan regarding Japan’s discovery of H041 on July 10 to 13, 2011.Three days prior, the CDC had reported super-resistant gonorrhea cases developing in the United States. They put out a 10-year review of antibiotic resistance among US gonorrhea cases, ending with the statement, “The eventual emergence of cephalosporin resistance appears likely.”

The H041disease is highly resistant to doses of ceftriaxone, all other cephalosporins and most antimicrobials that have been tested against sexually transmitted diseases. The new disease is eight times stronger than any previous gonorrhea strains. This would require higher doses of drugs to kill the disease.

The discovery of H041 tells a different story from previous cases of gonorrhea. Higher doses do not seem to be working and the disease is now considered untreatable. The antibiotic resistance of H041 was discovered by four newly discovered pinpoint mutations in amino acids, making up the germ’s genes.

"This is both an alarming and a predictable discovery," Dr. Magnus Unemo said in a statement about H041. Unemo, based at the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, worked with Japanese colleagues to characterize the new H041 multi-drug-resistant gonorrhea strain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that over 700,000 Americans develop gonorrhea on an annual basis, with less than half reported to the CDC. They have also found that people with gonorrhea are at high risk for developing HIV. According to the researchers in a published summary of their report, "An era of untreatable gonorrhea may have been initiated.”

The two areas in the United States that are showing the most disease increase are Hawaii and California. As far as failed treatments for the H041 disease outside the U.S., the two areas most affected are Asia and Norway.

According to the Japanese and Swedish teams, enhanced disease control activities are being used to in an attempt to contain the disease, or to hopefully delay it from spreading. “Ultimately, new drugs are essential…for efficacious gonorrhea treatment.” (NPR)