The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has  updated its treatment recommendations for gonococcal infections because of  growing resistance of 

 to the 1 class of antibiotics-cephalosporins-that remains to  treat them. 

According to data from CDC’s Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance  Project, urethral 

 isolates collected in the United States between 2006 and 2011 demonstrate  declining susceptibility to cefixime. 

,  CDC now recommends combination therapy with ceftriaxone 250 mg intramuscularly  and either azithromycin 1 g orally as a single dose or doxycycline 100 mg  orally twice daily for 7 days as the most reliably effective treatment for  uncomplicated urogenital, anorectal, and pharyngeal gonococcal infections. The  experts recommend the injectable form of ceftriaxone because 

 isolates seem less likely  to develop resistance to it than to the oral drug. If this combination therapy  fails, CDC recommends that physicians culture relevant specimens and perform  antimicrobial susceptibility testing. 

CDC no longer recommends cefixime at any dose as first-line  treatment. By changing the recommendation, they hope to delay the day when the  drug no longer works. If physicians use cefixime because ceftriaxone is  unavailable, they should prescribe 400 mg cefixime in a single oral dose along  with azithromycin 1 g orally in a single dose or doxycycline 100 mg orally  twice daily for 7 days. In addition, patients should return in 1 week for a  test-of-cure at the site of infection. 

For patients who are allergic to cephalosporins, CDC  recommends azithromycin 2 g in a single oral dose plus a test-of-cure 1 week  later. 

CDC also reemphasizes the importance of evaluating and  treating, if necessary, all sexual partners from the preceding 60 days.

 isolates in the United States are in the West, where  almost 4% of isolates show reduced susceptibility to the drug. Among men who  have sex with other men in the Western and Midwestern United States, almost 5%  of isolates demonstrate reduced susceptibility.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its treatment recommendations for gonococcal infections because of growing resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to the 1 class of antibioticsâ€”cephalosporinsâ€”that remains to treat them.