Emerging Sex Disease Could Become Next Superbug

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fountainhall

Emerging Sex Disease Could Become Next Superbug

Post by fountainhall »

The above is the headline of an article on today's BBC News site.
A little known sexually transmitted infection could become the next superbug unless people become more vigilant, experts are warning. Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) often has no symptoms . . . MG can be missed - and if it is not treated correctly, it can develop resistance to antibiotics.

Mycoplasma genitalium is a bacterium that can cause inflammation of the urethra in men, causing discharge from the penis and making it painful to urinate.

You can get it by having unprotected sex with someone who has it. Condoms can prevent this spread. It was first identified in the UK in the 1980s and is thought to affect 1-2% of the general population.

MG does not always cause symptoms and will not always need treatment, but it can be missed or mistaken for a different sexually transmitted infection, such as Chlamydia.

The British Association of Sexual Health and HIV says this is concerning.

It can be treated with antibiotics - but the infection is developing resistance to some of these drugs . . . Eradication rates of MG following treatment with one family of antibiotics, called macrolides, are decreasing globally. Macrolide resistance in UK is estimated at about 40%.

Dr Helen Fifer, consultant microbiologist at Public Health England, [said] "Everyone can protect themselves from STIs by consistently and correctly using condoms with new and casual partners."
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-44777938
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