TY - JOUR AU - Kenyon, Chris AU - Schwartz, Ilan T1 - Effects of Sexual Network Connectivity and Antimicrobial Drug Use on Antimicrobial Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2018 VL - 24 IS - 7 SP - 1195 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Contemporary strategies to curtail the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae include screening for and treating asymptomatic infections in high-prevalence populations in whom antimicrobial drug–resistant infections have typically emerged. We argue that antimicrobial resistance in these groups is driven by a combination of dense sexual network connectivity and antimicrobial drug exposure (for example, through screen-and-treat strategies for asymptomatic N. gonorrhoeae infection). Sexual network connectivity sustains a high-equilibrium prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and increases likelihood of reinfection, whereas antimicrobial drug exposure results in selection pressure for reinfecting N. gonorrhoeae strains to acquire antimicrobial resistance genes from commensal pharyngeal or rectal flora. We propose study designs to test this hypothesis. KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae KW - sexual networks KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - men who have sex with men KW - MSM KW - core groups KW - sexually transmitted infections KW - bacteria DO - 10.3201/eid2407.172104 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/7/17-2104_article ER - End of Reference