Detection of a Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea Strain in Nairobi

A new type of gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease resistant to common antibiotics, is reportedly spreading throughout Nairobi, the country’s capital, especially among female sex workers.

The study’s authors attribute this to ignorance, as some sex workers who take a daily HIV prevention pill mistakenly think it will also protect them from STDs and were unable to bargain condom use.

The study included more than 350 sex workers from a Nairobi clinic with a high gonorrhoea infection rate.

Because it is more lucrative, three-quarters of the individuals admitted to engaging in unprotected intercourse with their partners and clients. Some of them claimed to have had at least 29 clients in bed over the course of two weeks.

In order to ascertain the extent of the issue in Kenya, the researchers are urging the government to campaign for additional testing and reform the country’s current treatment strategy.

One of the most prevalent sexually transmitted illnesses worldwide is gonorrhea. Each year, more than 80 million cases are recorded worldwide.

What is gonorrhoea?

• The disease is caused by the bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
• The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex.
• Of those infected, about one in 10 heterosexual men and more than three-quarters of women, and gay men, have no easily recognisable symptoms.
• But symptoms can include a thick green or yellow discharge from sexual organs, pain when urinating and bleeding between periods.
• Untreated infection can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and can be passed on to a child during pregnancy.