Final answer:
The combination of ceftriaxone and azithromycin is the recommended prescription for treating gonorrhea due to antibiotic resistance patterns observed in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The CDC guidelines support this dual therapy to efficiently treat gonorrhea and potential co-infections.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct medication most likely to be prescribed for a client diagnosed with gonorrhea is ceftriaxone in combination with azithromycin. Due to the antibiotic resistance that Neisseria gonorrhoeae has developed, particularly to drugs like the fluoroquinolones (e.g., ciprofloxacin) and tetracyclines (e.g., doxycycline), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a dual therapy approach. This typically involves the cephalosporin antibiotic ceftriaxone plus azithromycin to cover potential coinfection with Chlamydia trachomatis, which commonly occurs alongside gonorrhea.
The nurse understands that ceftriaxone in combination with azithromycin is most likely to be prescribed for a client diagnosed with gonorrhea.
The CDC monitors antibiotic resistance in N. gonorrhoeae and classifies it as an urgent threat. This pathogen has shown resistance to various antibiotics including fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines, with tetracycline resistance being the most common. The CDC's current guidelines for treatment involve the administration of ceftriaxone, a cephalosporin which is less prone to resistance, in combination with azithromycin. This dual therapy not only targets N. gonorrhoeae but also helps in treating C. trachomatis, a frequent co-infecting organism. Although doxycycline and azithromycin are used to treat other urogenital infections such as those caused by C. trachomatis, in the context of gonorrhea, particularly when considering the threat of N. gonorrhoeae's resistance, the combination with ceftriaxone is the preferred approach. Penicillin, once a common treatment for gonorrhea, is no longer recommended due to widespread resistance.