Not one, but two women in the UK have contracted super-gonorrhoea. One had recently returned from a European “party destination” but the other contracted it in the UK.
Despite their infections being resistant to initial treatment, both women have successfully been cured of their respective ailments and are now able to begin the enjoyable task of contacting all of their sexual partners to break the news.
The disease is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae and is unsurprisingly spread by unprotected sex. The not-so-super symptoms can include a thick green or yellow discharge from sexual organs, bleeding between periods and pain when urinating.
Back in August, studies found that STI rates were soaring in different parts of the world. In the United States rates of chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea have seen an increase, reaching the 2.3 million mark of diagnosed cases in a year.
This isn’t the first time that super-gonorrhoea has made an appearance in the UK. Back in March, a man made history by contracting the world's “worst-ever” case of the superbug after an innocent trip, without his partner, to South East Asia. He too was cured but the increasing amount of drug-resistant STIs is definitely cause for concern.
Despite these instances, experts were keen to clarify that super-gonorrhoea hasn't gone mainstream in the UK yet. Dr Nick Phin, from Public Health England, told the BBC that it would be “unfair” to say that the virus was being spread in the UK. However, he went on to say that these examples “really bring home the message that these organisms will spread globally and you can get them in the UK”.
Public Health England has again, encouraged people to use condoms with new and casual partners. With fears that the virus will eventually become resistant to all antibiotics, we should probably be listening to them.
