Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun;27(24):2200455.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.24.2200455.

Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Neisseria gonorrhoeae causing possible gonorrhoea treatment failure with ceftriaxone plus azithromycin in Austria, April 2022

Sonja Pleininger  1 , Alexander Indra  1 , Daniel Golparian  2 , Florian Heger  1 , Stefanie Schindler  1 , Susanne Jacobsson  2 , Stefan Heidler  3 , Magnus Unemo  2   4
Affiliations

Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Neisseria gonorrhoeae causing possible gonorrhoea treatment failure with ceftriaxone plus azithromycin in Austria, April 2022

Sonja Pleininger et al. Euro Surveill. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

We describe a gonorrhoea case with ceftriaxone plus high-level azithromycin resistance. In April 2022, an Austrian heterosexual male was diagnosed with gonorrhoea after sexual intercourse with a female sex worker in Cambodia. Recommended treatment with ceftriaxone (1 g) plus azithromycin (1.5 g) possibly failed. Worryingly, this is the second strain in an Asian Neisseria gonorrhoeae genomic sublineage including high-level azithromycin-resistant strains that developed ceftriaxone resistance by acquisition of mosaic penA-60.001. Enhanced resistance surveillance and actions are imperative to prevent spread.

Keywords: Neisseria gonorrhoeae; XDR; ceftriaxone resistance; extensively drug-resistant; high-level azithromycin resistance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Phylogeny of the most closely related Neisseria gonorrhoeae genome sequences from a recent study [12], Asia, 2011–2018 to the extensively drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strain (AT159) causing a possible gonorrhoea treatment failure, Austriaa, April 2022 (n = 71 genome sequences)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Unemo M, Ross J, Serwin AB, Gomberg M, Cusini M, Jensen JS. 2020 European guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhoea in adults. Int J STD AIDS. 2020;956462420949126. 10.1177/0956462420949126 - DOI - PubMed
    1. St Cyr S, Barbee L, Workowski KA, Bachmann LH, Pham C, Schlanger K, et al. Update to CDC’s Treatment Guidelines for Gonococcal Infection, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(50):1911-6. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6950a6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization (WHO). WHO guidelines for the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Geneva: WHO; 2016. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549691 - PubMed
    1. Tapsall JW, Ndowa F, Lewis DA, Unemo M. Meeting the public health challenge of multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2009;7(7):821-34. 10.1586/eri.09.63 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cole MJ, Day M, Jacobsson S, Amato-Gauci AJ, Spiteri G, Unemo M, the European Gonorrhoea Response Plan Group. European Gonorrhoea Response Plan Group . The European response to control and manage multi- and extensively drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Euro Surveill. 2022;27(18). 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.18.2100611 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources