Gonorrhea Becoming 'Incurable'

The clap is mutating so quickly that there is a real danger that it will become incurable unless new treatments are developed, British doctors warn. The bacterium that causes gonorrhea—the second most common STD in the US—is remarkably adaptable and has proven resistant to the primary drug used to treat gonorrhea in 20% of UK cases last year, the BBC reports. In 2005, that number was zero.

"Our lab tests have shown a dramatic reduction in the sensitivity of the drug we were using as the main treatment for gonorrhea. This presents the very real threat of untreatable gonorrhea in the future," an expert at Britain's Health Protection Agency says. "This highlights the importance of practicing safe sex, as, if new antibiotic treatments can't be found, this will be only way of controlling this infection in the future." (More gonorrhea stories.)