CDC recommends changes for gonorrhea treatment

April 12, 2007

Atlanta - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending a change in drug therapies for gonorrhea because of widespread resistance to the antibiotics currently used to treat the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending a change in drug therapies for gonorrhea because of widespread resistance to the antibiotics currently used to treat the disease.

According to the CDC, resistance to fluoroquinolones -- a class of antibiotics that includes cipro, levofloxacin and ofloxacin, and the first-line treatment for gonorrhea since 1993 -- has increased in heterosexual men in the past five years. During that time, the number of fluoroquinolone-resistant cases of gonorrhea rose from less than 1 percent in 2001 to 13.3 percent in the first half of 2006.

The new data came from 26 U.S. cities and shows sizable increases in a number of cities, including Miami and Philadelphia. It also shows resistance cases among men having sex with men continues to rise.