It may seem like such a drag to have sex with a condom. Excuses like the ones listed below are prevalent.

It is easy to not think about the consequences in the heat of the moment but when you’re sitting there in the doctor’s office you most likely will not be feeling good.

What’s even worse is if you are actually diagnosed with something you will regret not protecting yourself and definitely not feeling good.

Common excuses for not wearing condoms

• Condoms taste and smell bad
• Sex feels better without a condom
• I have been tested, just trust me.
• If I get something I will just take some antibiotics.
• He/she did not ask or he/she did not look like they had anything.

Some people are willing to take the risk because they know a cure exists; Antibiotics. The problem with this line of thinking is that not everything sexually transmitted diseases is treated with antibiotics and even worse not everyone one has a cure, i.e. HIV/AIDS.

Power of Antibiotics
For the last 7 decades antibiotics have been used to treat individuals that have contacted infectious diseases. These drugs have been effective at reducing illnesses and death from these diseases. However, they must be prescribed and taken correctly to be beneficial.

Antibiotics have been so widely used and for such a long time that the infections they are designed to kill have adapted to them. Some infections have even become immune to certain antibiotics. These drawbacks reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics and thus making treatment more difficult and more expensive.

“Neisseria gonorrhoeae, also known as gonococci (plural), or gonococcus (singular), is a species of Gram-negative coffee bean-shaped diplococci bacteria responsible for the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea. “

A simpler term is Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea and it is a growing public health concern. Gonorrhea is controlled by an effective antibiotic strategy but since the treatment first started, gonorrhea has progressive developed a resistance to the antibiotics designed to treat it.

Drugs to Treat Gonorrhea
Sulfonilamides
Penicillin
Tetracycline
Ciprofloxacin
For all uncomplicated gonococcal infections the Center for Disease Control (CDC) sexually transmitted infection treatment guidelines a dual antibiotic therapy with cephalosporin ceftriaxone and either azithromycin or doxycycline. Dual antibiotic therapy is recommended to address the potential emergence of anti-biotic resistant gonorrhea.

STI Surveillance
No, I am 100% serious. Public health officials feel it is absolutely critical to continuously monitor gonococcal antibiotic resistance and maintain research and development processes to find new regimens of gonorrhea due to the ability of Neisseria gonorrhea to develop antibiotic resistance.

The concern is so high that there is a group that provides surveillance for antibiotic resistant strain in Neisseria gonorrhea called the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP). The GISP was established in the United States of America in 1986 and they have testing sites across the country. It is that serious.

Resistance is Not Futile
Imagine going to the doctor and getting prescribed antibiotics and then they do not work. It really makes you wonder if unprotected sex is really worth the hassle and/or risks. If it is a drag to use condoms during sex imagine the drag it will be to contract an STI and even worse; a resistant strain of an STI.condom-use-it

Gonorrhea is not usually fatal but it can be fatal if the infection spreads into the bloodstream and is untreated. Gonorrhea has become resistant to most antibiotics and currently only a few types of antibiotics can treat it. If fact the CDC says there is only one drug left. If it becomes resistant to those antibiotics then their will not be a cure available.

Condoms can prevent transmitting or contraction of gonorrhea and most other STI/STDs and thus the antibiotic problem is a mute point. It may not be 100% but 98% protection is better than nothing.

I suppose it is good news that some of the other common sexually transmitted infections such as, syphilis, Chlamydia, and trichomoniasis do not have any resistant strains as of yet but you never know. How does the old adage go? It is better to be safe than sorry.