The World Health Organization has released new guidelines for treating gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia given their increasing resistance to treatment. These documents update the group's 2003 guidelines. For gonorrhea, which has been most affected by antibiotic resistance, the guidelines include the following changes: Quinolones are no longer recommended given the high prevalence of resistance. Dual therapy is preferred over single therapy.
Health authorities should advise doctors to prescribe the antibiotic that would be most effective, taking into account current local patterns of resistance. Oropharyngeal treatment recommendations and guidance on retreatment after treatment failure are included. For syphilis, the new guidelines strongly recommend a dose of benzathine penicillin, which has been in short supply, over procaine penicillin. For chlamydia, the WHO developed…
