A client being treated for gonorrhea would most likely be prescribed which agent?

• A. Ceftriaxone
• B. Amoxicillin
• C. Azithromycin
• D. Ciprofloxacin

Answer: (A)

Gonorrhea treatment relies on an antibiotic to which Neisseria gonorrhoeae remains susceptible, and patterns of resistance have made some drugs unreliable. A third-generation cephalosporin, ceftriaxone, is the best single-agent therapy because it has strong activity against gonorrhoeae, including strains that resist penicillin or fluoroquinolones. It works by inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis and is given as a single-dose intramuscular injection. In practice, clinicians often add coverage for possible chlamydial co-infection, but ceftriaxone is the key drug for treating gonorrhea itself. Amoxicillin has lost effectiveness due to penicillin resistance, ciprofloxacin (a fluoroquinolone) is no longer reliable because of high resistance rates, and azithromycin alone does not reliably treat gonorrhea given current resistance concerns, though it may be used to address co-infection with Chlamydia.