Brits free from lockdown fuelling STD boom amid fears ‘super gonorrhoea’ strain could rise in Covid perfect storm

BRITS free from lockdown are fuelling an STD boom amid fears a super gonorrhoea strain could become untreatable in a perfect storm caused by Covid-19.

Lloyds Pharmacy has said treatments for sexually transmitted infections jumped by ten per cent within a fortnight of lockdown lifting on April 12.

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Super gonorrhoea is on the rise thanks to the Covid pandemic[/caption]

Dr Jane Dickson, a consultant in sexual and reproductive healthcare at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Newport, told The Times: “All the traditional STIs, we’re seeing a resurgence of.”

She went on: “There’s not a major sex fest going on. It’s just that people are awakening and seeing other people and dating and hooking up, and so they’re having more sex again.”

Lloyds data also said that sales of the morning-after-pill jumped by 23 per cent after the lifting of lockdown, while online data services have detected a rise in people using their vaccination status as a lure on their profile.

Government rules still technically ban sex between strangers – but  Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has said its “incredibly safe” for two vaccinated people to meet indoors, despite also urging Brits to “hold the line a teeny bit longer”.

However, with this reported sexpolsion of bonking – it comes after World Health Organisation medics warned the worrying STI dubbed “super gonorrhoea” could be a threat post Covid.

They warned The Sun Online the STI may become even more resistant to antibiotics as an overuse of them during the pandemic is fuelling its mutation. 

The super strain of one of the world’s oldest sexually spread bugs has been given the ideal environment to thrive as the world continues to fight against coronavirus.

Untreated, super gonorrhoea can lead to a five-fold increase of HIV transmission and eye infections that may lead to blindness. 

There are more than 90million cases of gonorrhoea worldwide each year, and this number is growing by 17%.

Such a situation can fuel emergence of resistance in gonorrhea including gonorrhea superbug or gonorrhoea with high level resistance to current antibiotics recommended to treat it

World Health Organisation

Although WHO reports the majority of cases to be in the African region, the western world is seeing cases grow at an alarming rate.

The CDC reports infections have increased by 63% since 2014, and up to five million people in the US could be infected with gonorrhoea in 10 years.

The UK has the highest gonorrhoea rate in Europe, and there could be more than 420,000 new cases every year by 2030.

Now, an increasing number of cases have been found in hospitals around the world of antibiotics being used unnecessarily to treat Covid-19.

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Doctors fear overuse of antibiotics could fuel super gonorrhoea[/caption]

A WHO spokesman told The Sun Online how this and a lack of STI services in the time of the pandemic could also be fuelling the rise of super gonorrhoea.

He said: “Overuse of antibiotics in the community can fuel the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhoea.

“Azithromycin – a common antibiotic for treating respiratory infections – was used for Covid-19 treatment earlier in the epidemic.

“During the pandemic, STI services have also been disrupted. This means more STI cases are not diagnosed properly with more people self-medicating as a result.

“Such a situation can fuel emergence of resistance in gonorrhea including gonorrhea superbug (super gonorrhoea) or gonorrhoea with high level resistance to current antibiotics recommended to treat it.”

They added: “Resistant strains in gonorrhoea continue to be a critical challenge to STI prevention and control efforts.”

In a Cardiff University paper, Professor Philip Howard, president of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, said three quarters of patients admitted to hospital in the UK with suspected or proven Covid pneumonia get antibiotics for the virus, while less than 1 per cent of patients have a bacterial infection.

Similar cases have been reported from around the world. 

A study from the US showed 71 per cent of Covid patients were given antibiotics, while only four per cent really needed them. 

Kevin Cox, executive chairman of UK start-up Biotaspheric Limited told The Sun how all of this is leading to the emergence of super gonorrhoea – and he warned it could soon become untreatable. 

He said: “People infected with super gonorrhoea will infect others and accelerate anti microbial resistance. We urgently need new treatments.”

Biotaspheric is seeking funding to develop a new antibiotic technology which has the potential to treat super gonorrhoea. 

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Covid-19 has led to an overuse of antibiotics, WHO said[/caption]

CDC experts state gonorrhoea strains have become resistant to all but one class of antibiotics – while half of all modern-day infections are now resistant to at least one antibiotic.

The raise in concern of resistance to one of the antibiotics used to treat it, azithromycin, led the CDC to change their treatment recommendation just last week.

Gonorrhoea is an ancient infection, with ancient Chinese medical textbooks dating back to 2,600 BC describing treatments. 

These included injecting mercury, silver and even gold directly into the urethra. 

Other unusual methods of treatment included clapping both sides of the penis with hard objects to try and push out the discharge.  

But despite the threat, free love seems to be back on the cards post-lockdown as Reckitt, the makers of Durex condoms, reported last week a double-digit rise in global sales.

 Dr Gigi Taguri, a GP and director of medical technology at Lloyds Pharmacy Online Doctor, said: “Clearly people are feeling more comfortable to be sexually active.

“People are just more in that environment where it is possible to have unplanned sex.”

She added patients were most commonly seeking treatment for chlamydia, herpes and warts.