Does this mean I can’t be treated if I catch it?
Dr David Livermore, director of the antibiotic resistance monitoring laboratory at the Health Protection Agency in the UK, has said that the cephalosporin antibiotics used are still effective for treating gonorrhoea.
However, it is important to prevent this new strain from Japan from spreading further. Careful use of condoms with new sexual partners is important to prevent the spread of all types of gonorrhoea. As the infection can be symptomless the only way to know if you have gonorrhoea is to be tested.
Testing is straightforward for both men and women: men are usually tested using a urine sample, whereas women are tested using a swab from the cervix. Testing can either be performed by a person’s GP or they can attend a sexual health clinic, also known as a genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinic. When visiting a GUM clinic, a person’s details will not be passed on to their GP unless they request it.