The Nation - News from March 6, 1987

A penicillin-resistant strain of gonorrhea has spread to the point where talk of eradicating it may be impractical, federal health researchers said. The national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reported that 16,608 cases of penicillin-resistant gonorrhea were reported in the United States last year, up 90% from the year before. In most cases, the disease is easily treated with other drugs, the researchers said. But efforts to eradicate it in a community where it has taken hold are difficult and expensive, the CDC said.