Rethinking Screening Intensity in Terms of Reducing Prevalence or Increasing Selection Pressure for the Emergence of Resistant Gonorrhea: A Modeling Study of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Belgium

Abstract Background Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) has developed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to multiple classes of antibiotics. While treatment of symptomatic NG in groups, such as men who have sex with men (MSM), is crucial, screening programs targeting asymptomatic NG cases may contribute to excessive antibiotic exposure of the population and thus to the emergence of gonococcal AMR. Our primary aim was to assess if intense screening could promote AMR in NG. Methods We built a network-based model of NG transmission dynamics among MSM in Belgium to estimate the prevalence of NG in the populati... Mehr ...