Travellers ‘clap’ making a comeback

Europeans spread STDs as they explored new lands around the world

Ever since adventurous Europeans began spreading their enthusiasm across the New World and Asia, the ever-present threat of sexually transmitted disease has been a constant worry for active travellers.

In 2011, researchers identified a strain of gonorrhoea that is resistant to antibiotics, raising fears the once drug-controlled ‘clap’ is making a comeback after a tourist showed signs of the disease in Australia this week.

According to report from AAP, a tourist from central Europe contracted the ‘sex superbug’ in Sydney and was eventually treated in Cairns. The patient, who has since left the country, showed unprecedented levels of the bacteria.

The untreatable strain, known as H041, was first discovered in 2009 after a sex worker fell victim to the superbug in Japan.

Gonorrhoea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that grows in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes in women and in the urethra in women and men. It can be easily avoided by the use of condoms during intercourse.

More information at the Dept of Health