Massachusetts: Resistant Form of Gonorrhea Gains Foothold

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In Massachusetts, disease trackers have reported a strain of gonorrhea that cannot be treated with standard antibiotics. First discovered in the state in 2002, the drug-resistant bacteria affected one of every seven gonorrhea patients in the state last year. Maine reported its first case in January, and although other New England health departments do not routinely test for the new strain, health officials suspect its presence.

Infectious disease specialists fear cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea will spread exponentially as patients are unwittingly prescribed drugs that do not work. Thinking they are cured, patients may resume unsafe sex practices and pass on the infection. Federal health officials are monitoring the spread of the drug-resistant bacteria, first discovered on the West Coast about four years ago. CDC investigators said the Massachusetts outbreak appears more severe than clusters recently reported in Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia.

CDC investigators predict the new gonorrhea strain could increase HIV infections, because people with gonorrhea's open sores can more easily contract and spread HIV.

The resistant gonorrhea strain is emerging as STDs have begun to rebound, and state funding cuts have reduced the number of Massachusetts STD clinics. Gonorrhea cases had declined slightly in Massachusetts over the past two years. However, the 3,010 diagnoses reported in 2003 represent a 45 percent increase since 1997, when cases were at a historic low. Nationally, gonorrhea cases grew by 7 percent from 1997-2002.

Drug resistance has long been a problem with gonorrhea, and infectious disease doctors fear that eventually gonorrhea may become resistant to all the antibiotics available to treat it. "We're burning through antibiotics," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of STD prevention and control services for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. "What happens when we burn through them all?" he asked.

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