Alarm as Kenya Scientists Discover New Strains of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia

Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) have discovered two new strains of gonorrhea and chlamydia, with Kenyans being warned to be vigilant.

Nation reports that the discovery was made following an inquiry into the rising cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in two hospitals in Busia County, which borders Uganda.

The assistant principal research scientist at Kemri’s Center for Microbiology Research Prof. Samson Muuo said all the 424 Kenyan women aged 15 years and above sampled from the two hospitals returned positive results for gonorrhea and chlamydia.

“This information was collected under socio-demographic characteristics that is still under analysis and so we will soon know how many used protection, the histories with using antibiotics as many indicated they have used them before, comorbidities if any and if they have had similar infections before,” Muuo said.

“The two new mutations we identified in MtrR and 23S rRNA genes associated with macrolide resistance were not from a common ancestral origin from the previously reported one. Busia being a border town gives an interesting approach about the disease's spread. Hypothetically, it can be assumed that these mutations will spread between the two regions.”

Macrolides are a class of drugs used to manage and treat various bacterial infections.

Consecutive sampling was used to collect endocervical swabs from women who presented symptoms of STIs. 

“Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium were detected from all 424 women who met inclusion criteria,” the findings state. “Sequencing for the macrolide-resistant genes of interest was subsequently done and data analyzed for point mutations and evolutionary relationships.”

Prof. Muuo said the mutations of gonorrhea and chlamydia they found were attacking as a pair.

“Co-infection is not new in diseases and so the phenomenon exhibited in the study is expected when one is exposed to the different pathogens. This also indicates that the STIs are prevalent in that region,” he told Nation.