Penicillin was first used in the 1940s to treat gonorrhea infections produced by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In 1984, according to the CDC, fewer than 1% of gonorrhea infections were caused by penicillin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae. By 1990, more than 10% of cases were penicillin-resistant, and a few years later the level of resistance was at greater than 95%. Almost every year the CDC issues new treatment guidelines for gonorrhea that identify the recommended antibiotic drugs and dosages.

What are the long-term implications of these frequent changes in treatment recommendations for the patient population?