Study seeks alternative antibiotic for ‘untreatable’ gonorrhoea
10 December 2014
EXPERTS at the Sexual Health Department at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have begun recruiting patients to a major new study seeking to test safe alternative antibiotics which could be used to treat increasingly drug-resistant strains of the gonorrhoea bacteria.
The team are one of eight specialist sexual health centres across England involved in the study.
Over the past 30 years, strains of gonorrhoea have become increasingly resistant to antibiotic drugs, leaving patients with fewer and fewer treatment options.
During the study researchers from the Sexual Health Department at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are set to test an antibiotic, known as gentamicin, to see if this could be used to treat the sexually transmitted infection when the current antibiotic, ceftriaxone, is no longer effective.
Dr Christine Bowman, Clinical Director for Communicable Diseases and Specialised Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Resistance to the antibiotics we use to treat gonorrhoea is increasing, and we expect it may stop curing patients within the next few years.
“In this study we are testing to see if an alternative antibiotic, gentamicin, is as effective as the current one. No extra clinic visits are necessary, and the information could play a vital role in helping patients in the future.”
New data published by Public Health England highlighted that there was a 15% increase in the number of new cases of gonorrhoea infections in 2013.
The study is being led by Professor Jonathan Ross who is based at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. It is being funded by the National Institute of Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme.
More information about gonorrhoea and its symptoms can be found on http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gonorrhoea/Pages/Introduction.aspx. If you have any symptoms of gonorrhoea, or are worried that you may have, visit the genitourinary medicine (GUM) department at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital or sexual health clinic for further support and advice.
ENDS
Photo: Blood tests being undertaken in the GUM department at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital
MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Blake, Communications Specialist Tel: 0114 226 5033 Email: claudia.blake@sth.nhs.uk
