We examined all DNA extracts for mosaic penA alleles in 2 steps: 1) screening of all types of mosaic penA alleles (7,34); and 2) detection of the specific mosaic penA alleles that caused high-level resistance to ceftriaxone in the strains
H041 (penA-37.001; 7) and F89 (penA-42.001; 6).
The A8806 strain shares some genetic similarities with
H041, another antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea discovered in 2009 in a Japanese sex worker.
While gonorrhea has traditionally been cured by antibiotics, the new strain, called "
H041", has genetically mutated and no longer responds to antibiotics.
The Japanese superbug, called
H041, was isolated by Magnus Unemo at the orebro University Hospital in Sweden and reported this week in the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research meeting in Quebec, Canada.
Experts are battling to discover a way of killing the new strain of the sexually transmitted infection, called
H041.
gonorrhoeae had been rare and typically sporadic, including in 2009,
H041 in Japan (2); in 2010, F89 in France (3); in 2011, F89 in Spain (4); in 2013, A8806 in Australia (5); in 2014, GU140106 in Japan (6); and in 2015, FC428 and FC460 in Japan (7).
The strain is being classified as: Gonorrhea strain
H041.
Experts yesterday announced they are battling to discover a way of killing the new strain of the sexually transmitted infection, called
H041.
To the Editor: In 2009, 2010, and 2013, Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains
H041 (ceftriaxone MIC of 2 mg/L), F89 (ceftriaxone MIC of 1 mg/L), and A8806 (ceftriaxone MIC of 0.5 mg/L) were isolated from samples from patients in Japan (1), France (2) and Australia (3), respectively.
First discovered in Japan, the
H041 strain is resistant to the class of antibiotics, called cephalosporins, commonly used to treat the STD.