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Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea.

Those infected with gonorrhea often show no symptoms, however, the disease can lead to serious complications, including infertility and chronic pelvic pain in women, and in men, a painful inflammation of the ducts attached to the testicles that may cause infertility.

Left untreated, according to the CDC. If the bacteria spread to the blood or joints, the condition can be life-threatening, the CDC says.

Over the last several decades, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea have developed resistance to many antibiotics used to treat the condition, including penicillin, tetracycline and fluoroquinolones.

That left just one class of drugs, called cephalosporins — which include the drugs cefixime and ceftriaxone — to be used as treatment.

But today, the CDC announced it no longer recommends cefixime, an oral medication, as a first-line treatment for gonorrhea, citing data over the last several years that show cefixime has become less effective at treating the infection.