The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a listof the most drug-resistant illnesses in the country. The bacterial STD, gonorrhea, is on that list. As Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports gonorrhea infections are rising in Washoe County.
Angela Penny is with the Washoe County Health District. She says in the first six months of this year, gonorrhea infections increased by 16.4 percent compared to the same time last year.
“That’s a big spike,” Penny says.
Penny says a dual antibiotic therapy is the common treatment. But there has been no evidence of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in the community so far.
“What we would have seen is a specific individual repeatedly testing positive," Penny explains, "in spite of being treated.”
In a recent CDC report, the number of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea have more than quadrupled in the U.S. in just one year. The disease can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and can increase the spread of HIV.