Gonorrhea could be untreatable by 2015

Gonorrhea could be untreatable by 2015 because it is becoming harder to find antibiotics that treat it, the BBC has reported.

This follows news that there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea - up 25% in 2011.

The BBC quoted Professor Cathy Ison, head of the National Reference Laboratory for Gonorrhoea which is part of Public Health England, as saying: "Hopefully by raising awareness we can at least buy some time and look at new ways in which we can prevent it from becoming untreatable."

"But there is a possibility that if we don't do something then it could become untreatable by 2015."