|
Download No antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea have been detected on the Chinese mainland, which has long been covered by a nationwide surveillance system targeting varied kinds of sexually transmitted diseases, a senior specialist said. Wang Xiaochun, director of hepatitis C and STD prevention for the National Center for AIDS and STD Control and Prevention, made the remarks following media reports of an untreatable" superbug" gonorrhea, recognized as HO41, hitting countries such as the United States and Japan. "China for a long time has had a sound surveillance system for STDs such asgonorrhea and syphilis across the mainland, and related drug resistance is also covered by the system," Wang said on Wednesday. "So far we've not seen the bacteria-caused disease develop any resistance to the antibiotics, like cephalosporin that is commonly used to treat it. The effective surveillance system will help detect such a situation if it arises." Gonorrhea is characterized as a major type of infection, and medical institutions nationwide are required by the National Health and Family Planning Commission to report each new case to an online database. In recent years, more than 90,000 gonorrhea cases a year have been reported on the Chinese mainland. "In general, gonorrhea and most other STDs are decreasing in the country, with the sole exception being syphilis," Wang said. Gonorrhea is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhea bacterium and is transmitted via sexual activity. Unlike AIDS, which is caused by a virus, gonorrhea is not spread by blood. | 
