| Hello and Happy Friday, readers! Sy at your service. On a bit of a grim note heading into the weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that a drug-resistant form of the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea is on the rise. “The bacteria that cause gonorrhoea are particularly smart. Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them,” said the WHO’s Dr. Teodora Wi in a statement. The WHO’s guidance is based on new data from nearly 80 countries. Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea is especially problematic given how common the condition is: Some 78 million people are infected every year, according to the agency. And now that the bacteria which cause the disease is morphing into a superbug, developing new treatments is key. Unfortunately, the “R&D pipeline for gonorrhoea is relatively empty, with only 3 new candidate drugs in various stages of clinical development.” This threat is by no means exclusive to gonorrhoea. The WHO recently put out guidelines on the biggest superbug threats in dire need of new antibiotics and treatments. Read on for the day’s news, and enjoy your weekend. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment