No one likes to talk about sexually transmitted diseases. For many decades, having an STD has been deemed a social taboo and often equated with a person’s promiscuous lifestyle and low moral standards.

There are a variety of diseases that are classified as STDs and some of them can be fatal. People have died as a result of contracting syphilis, which can spread to the brain where it becomes fatal.

The most common STD is the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are about 40 types of HPV and they can spread through vaginal, anal and oral intercourse and some can spread simply from any skin-to-skin contact. It can be prevented with vaccines, but once an infection sets in, it is difficult to eradicate it from the body.

In the United States, chlamydia is the second most common STD. Fortunately, chlamydia is treated with antibiotics.

Gonorrhea and syphilis are also common STD’s, both of which are treated with antibiotics. In the United States, there are about 300,000 cases of gonorrhea reported every year. Since many cases are not reported, some believe the number of cases in the US is closer to about 600,000.

However, doctors in the United Kingdom are warning that they have encountered a form of gonorrhea that does not respond to any of the known antibiotic treatments. They are referring to it as ‘super gonorrhea’ and describing it as the ‘worst ever’ instance of a sexually transmitted disease they have ever encountered.

Dr. Gwenda Hughes with the Public Health of England reported:

“This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics.”

Dr. Teodora Wi, Medical Officer, Human Reproduction, at World Health Organization (WHO) added:

“The bacteria that cause gonorrhea are particularly smart. Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them.”

Actually, it’s not that the bacteria are smart and choose to evolve. The fact is in all anti-biotic resistance cases, a genetic mutation causes at least one virus or bacteria to be resistant to an antibiotic. When the antibiotic is applied, all of the others die off, leaving the one with the mutation and it’s that one that reproduces and spreads. It’s not evolution at all. In fact, considering that all of the other forms are killed off with the antibiotics, it’s actually, de-evolution if you want to put that kind of term to it.

Dr. Wi also added:

“These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries, where gonorrhea is actually more common.”

What are the dangers of gonorrhea if untreated or if it does not respond to normal antibiotics? It can lead to pelvic inflammation, ectopic pregnancies, stillbirths, babies can be born with severe eye infections and it can result in infertility in men and women alike.

The warning is to practice safe sex. Best way to prevent contracting super gonorrhea or any other STD is to remain celibate until marriage and then never commit adultery.