Syphilis and medication -resistant gonorrhea cases in the increase

New cases of sexually transmitted infection of syphilis have increased in England and expose a trend that goes back to the early 2000s.

While the total number of people who were diagnosed with gonorrhea has fallen, the number of cases in which the infection is resistant to medication has increased significantly. New data of British health security (UKHSA) Shows.

Health experts say that this is a real problem, although the actual number of drug -resistant cases remains very low.

The NHS recently announced the rollout of The world’s first vaccine program to protect against gonorrhea, mainly aimed at gays and bisexual men.

There were a total of 9,535 diagnoses of what was described in 2024 as syphilis in early stages in England, compared to 2%compared to 2023.

The total number for syphilis, including the so -called syphilis in the late stage, or complications from the infection, rose by 5% to 1,030 p.m.

The figures for gonorrhea show a more complicated picture.

Overall, 2024 recorded a decline of 16% in gonorrhea cases with 71,802 diagnoses compared to 85,370 in 2023, with the largest decline in 15 to 24 year olds.

Giulia Habib Meriggi, a surveillance and prevention scientist for sexually transmitted infections at UKHSA, urged caution over the decline.

“This is the first year in recent years where [the numbers] I actually went down, “she said.

“It is still the third highest number of cases that we had in the history of the recorded story in a year, so it’s a kind of good news, but it doesn’t mean that it stays that way.

“It is obviously really important that people are still being tested regularly and use condoms with new partners.”

In contrast, an acceleration of the diagnoses of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea was accelerated.

Some tribes of the bacteria that cause the disease to no longer respond to the initial treatment, the antibiotic ceftriaxon.

The numbers themselves remain low, with 14 cases reporting in the first five months of 2025, compared to 13 cases for the entire 2024.

But six of these 14 cases this year were largely resistant to medication this year, which means that they were resistant not only against ceftriaxone, but also against the treatment options of the second line.

Most Ceftriaxon-Resistant cases were connected to the trip to or from the Asian-Pacific region, in which the Ceftriaxon resistance is high.

The UKHSA scientist Prarthana Narayanan describes the trend as “worrying”.

“The numbers are still small, but the reason why this is worrying is that, as soon as the resistance in gonorrhea becomes endemic, it will be extremely difficult to treat, since ceftriaxon is the last first-animal therapy that we have for it.

“We would like to ensure that the spread of resistant trunks is reduced as far as possible to try to extend how long we can use ceftriaxone to treat it,” she said.

• syphilis Can be available as small wounds or ulcers on and around the genitals as well as white or gray warm growth
• Wounds in other areas, including in her mouth or on the lips, hands or on the floor
• A rash on the palms and soles of their feet, which can sometimes spread over their whole body
• White spots in her mouth
• Flu -like symptoms such as high temperature, headache, fatigue and swollen glands
• Spotty hair loss on the head, beard and eyebrows
• gonorrhea Can cause liquid or discharge from the penis or vagina
• A burning pain when urinating
• Pain in the lower abdomen (for women) or sore testicles

The number of sexually transmitted infections remains high, warns UKHSA, with the effects mainly of 15 to 24 year olds, gays and bisexual men and some ethnic groups of minorities.

However, gonorrhea’s increase in medication -resistant cases is a real problem, which has extensive concerns about growth in terms of growth in antimicrobial resistance.

The World Health Organization describes antimicrobial resistance as a topic of global concern and one of the greatest threats to global health.

It threatens our ability to treat frequent infections and carry out life -saving procedures, including chemotherapy for cancer, caesarean section, hip replacement, organ transplantation and other operations.

For this reason, health experts, although only 14 cases of drug -resistant gonorrhea were identified this year, were identified to use every sex with new or casual partners to use a condom and to be tested regularly, regardless of its age or sexual orientation.