The second most reportable, owing to being notifiable, disease in the U.S. is a sexually transmitted (STD) one. It is known as gonorrhea. The ailments affects both women and men. The younger demographics between 15 and 24 years of age is particularly prone to it. In 2017 around 550,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the U.S.
Gonorrhea infection if left untreated can devolve into ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, and high chances of contracting HIV infection. Moreover, the infection can carry over to the baby in pregnant women. This can, in turn, lead to blindness and other fatal infections in the baby.
This has led to researchers looking for various ways to treat the condition. In a recent successful test, an oral antibiotic for investigational purpose known as zoliflodacin cured almost every case of gonorrhea which was uncomplicated. It was tested in multicenter clinical trial in Phase 2. The clinical study was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The latter is a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Zoliflodacin, which was earlier known as AZD0914 and ETX091, is considered a new variety of antibiotic which can be ingested orally. It thwarts DNA synthesis in a manner different from the current crop of antibiotics in use.
The study was conducted from 2014 through 2015 and had 179 people partaking in the trials. Among them 167 were men and 12 non-pregnant women. Their ages ranged between 18 and 55.
