Delaying the widespread emergence of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhoea: what is the best target?

Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is associated with high morbidity worldwide. The emergence of cephalosporin and macrolide resistance represents a grave threat to the control of a disease, which, if untreated, can lead to serious reproductive complications in women, blindness in neonates, facilitated spread of HIV and, in rare cases, life-threatening disseminated infections.1 ,2 A plenary was convened at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) sexually transmitted disease (STD) Prevention Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, 9–12 June 2014, to discuss several key aspects pertaining to this issue. The Scientific Committee, including Drs Matthew Golden from the University of Washington, Kevin Karem from CDC and Khalil Ghanem from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, invited three experts to discuss challenges to the control of drug-resistant gonorrhoea. The presentations focused on the antibiotics, the microbe and population-specific dynamics. The three contributors were then asked to develop their presentations into full-length papers, which are compiled here. In an effort to delay the emergence of cephalosporin and macrolide resistance, several public …