"Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are major public health problems worldwide, affecting millions of peoples' quality of life, causing serious illness and sometimes death. An untreated STI in a pregnant woman increases the chances of stillbirth and newborn death. Infection with chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis can also increase a person's risk of being infected with HIV two to three fold. When left undiagnosed and untreated, these STIs can result in serious complications and long-term health problems for women, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, and untreated gonorrhoea and chlamydia can cause infertility in both men and women. Antibiotic resistance in chlamydia and syphilis, though less common, also exists, making prevention and prompt treatment critical. Strains of multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea that do not respond to any available antibiotics have already been detected.
Of the three STIs, gonorrhoea has developed the strongest resistance to antibiotics. Resistance of these STIs to the effect of antibiotics has increased rapidly in recent years and has reduced treatment options. It is estimated that, each year, 131 million people are infected with chlamydia, 78 million with gonorrhoea, and 5.6 million with syphilis. However, these STIs often go undiagnosed and they are becoming more difficult to treat, with some antibiotics now failing as a result of misuse and overuse. Growing antibiotic resistance forces updates to recommended treatment for sexually transmitted infectionsģ0 AUGUST 2016 | GENEVA - New guidelines for the treatment of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.Ĭhlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are all caused by bacteria and they are generally curable with antibiotics.