Health

Advisory

CEPHALOSPORIN SUSCEPTIBILITY AMONG NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE ISOLATES

The Delaware Division of Public Health alerts the medical community of recently published information regarding Cephalosporin Resistant

Gonorrhea.

The CDC is now seeing concerning patterns of decreased susceptibility to Cephalosporins in the treatment of gonorrhea (see http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6026a2.htm)

Although treatment failure has not been reported in the United States, decreased susceptibility and treatment failures documented in

Asia, Norway & Japan, coupled with this organism’s ability to mutate and become resistant, raises possibilities that treatment

failures are on the horizon in the United States.

Health care providers need to be aware of the potential for future resistance and take these important steps to ensure successful

treatment outcomes for their patients:

1. Treat.  Promptly, according to CDC recommendations. Health-care providers should use dual-therapy, ceftriaxone

   and azithromycin for the treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea.

2. Culture.  If a patient has suspected or documented treatment failure obtain an isolate to test for

   susceptibility.

3. Report suspected treatment failure.  Treatment failure should be reported to the Division of Public Health, STD

   Program at (302) 744-1025.

For Additional Information about this or any other STD or to report a case, call the Delaware Division of Public Health, Sexually

Transmitted Disease Program at (302) 744-1050 or visit our website at: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dph/dpc/stds.html.

************************************

You are receiving this email because you are a registered member of the Delaware Health Alert Network. If you are not a member and would

like to subscribe, please register at https://healthalertde.org