The situation is so serious that scientists warn that the current vaccines could soon cease to be effective in the evolution of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that gonorrhea is increasingly difficult to treat, "and sometimes even impossible." The body claims that this is due to the growing resistance of this sexually transmitted disease to antibiotics, especially the "oldest", which are usually cheaper.
The WHO, which based its study on data from 77 countries, estimated that the disease is contracted each year by 78 million people. Of these, 35.2 million reside in the Western Pacific region, 11.4 in Southeast Asia, 11.4 in Africa, 11 in the Americas, 4.7 in Europe and 4.5 in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"In the longer term, we will need a vaccine to prevent gonorrhea," warns Dr. Marc Sprenger, who heads the WHO Antimicrobial Resistance Department. The agency indicates that to avoid the disease one has to adopt "safer sexual behaviors, in particular the correct and regular use of the condom".
"The bacterium responsible for gonorrhea is especially clever. Every time we use a new type of antibiotic to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist it," says Dr. Teodora Wi, who points out that it is necessary to work on "new drugs." Currently, only three drugs are in development.
Without treatment, gonorrhea can lead to serious long-term health problems such as infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease. In addition, during pregnancy it can cause permanent blindness to babies.