Gonorrhea treatment practices in the STD Surveillance Network, 2010-2012

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Antimicrobial Resistance

Background:

• National guidelines revised in 2010 to combat cephalosporin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
• Ceftriaxone replaced oral treatments as a key public health strategy.
• Current treatment practices in the US remained largely uncharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize current gonorrhea treatment practices in the United States.
• To assess the adoption of ceftriaxone following revised treatment guidelines.
• To monitor trends in gonorrhea treatment from 2010 to 2012.

Main Methods:

• Data collected from six state and city health departments (STD Surveillance Network).
• Analysis of 135,984 reported gonorrhea cases across 101 counties.
• Patient treatment data obtained via surveillance and interviews with a random sample of 7,851 patients.

Main Results:

• Ceftriaxone use increased from 64.1% in 2010 to 85.4% in 2012.
• 76.8% of patients received ceftriaxone; 51.9% received ceftriaxone with doxycycline or azithromycin.
• Significant variation in ceftriaxone use observed across different surveillance sites.

Conclusions:

• Most gonorrhea cases between 2010-2012 were treated with ceftriaxone.
• Increased ceftriaxone use aligns with 2010 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines.
• Continued monitoring is essential due to variations in treatment practices.