Choosing New Therapies for Gonorrhoea: We Need to Consider the Impact on the Pan-Neisseria Genome. A Viewpoint

Abstract

The development of new gonorrhoea treatment guidelines typically considers the resistance-inducing effect of the treatment only on Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Antimicrobial resistance in N. gonorrhoeae has, however, frequently first emerged in commensal Neisseria species and then been passed on to N. gonorrhoeae via transformation. This creates the rationale for considering the effect of gonococcal therapies on resistance in commensal Neisseria. We illustrate the benefits of this pan-Neisseria strategy by evaluating three contemporary treatment options for N. gonorrhoeae—ceftriaxone plus azithromycin, monotherapy with ceftriaxone and zoliflodacin.