She continues: “The available data only shows the tip of the iceberg. Without adequate surveillance we won’t know the extent of resistance to gonorrhea and without research into new antimicrobial agents, there could soon be no effective treatment for patients.”

BBC's Peter Greenhouse notes that since penicillin was first used to treat gonorrhea in 1943, "the organism has gradually developed novel means of evading control by each new antibiotic. As strains of gonorrhea that need a higher concentration of a drug to kill them become the dominant ones, eventually the drug will no longer work."

There are greater risks that come with untreatable gonorrhea infection.

Greenhouse writes,“Over-the-counter medication, widely available in Africa and Asia means people self-medicate often taking the wrong dose at the wrong time, perhaps with alcohol which further reduces the concentration of the drug.”

“If gonorrhea becomes untreatable in these countries, the effect on increasing HIV rates could be disastrous - because any sexually transmitted infection which causes inflammation and discharge increases the transmission efficiency of HIV."

It's unclear whether these completely drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea have made their way to the US.

Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Nikki Mayes tells US News & World Report that, "The bottom line is that treatment of gonorrhea with cephalosporins remains effective [in the United States], and no cases of treatment failures have been seen in the U.S. But we do want people to be aware that if new treatments aren't developed, we may see untreatable gonorrhea in the future." 

The message is pretty clear. Wrap it up, kids.

Image Source (Hat Tip: HuffPo)