Gonorrhea
Basic Information
Gonorrhea, commonly called "the clap", or "GC" is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) occurring in both men and women of all ages, especially affecting urban dwellers. Nearly 3,000,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year.
Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection. The bacteria is called Neisseria gonorrhea and is contagious and reportable.
Infection can be transmitted during oral, anal and/or vaginal intercourse. You may be at risk for contracting gonorrhea if you or your partner are sexually active outside of a monogamous relationship. If this is the case, the proper use of latex condoms will substantially reduce your risk factor for infection.
If you are diagnosed with this disease it is important that you notify your sexual partners so that they may seek treatment. Left untreated, gonorrhea can cause serious long-term health complications. And be certain you do not engage in further sexual activity until you have followed up with your health care provider to determine that you are no longer infectious.
Symptoms
Symptoms usually appear within two days to three weeks after exposure but the infection may present as having no symptoms in 12% to 50% of cases in men and in 50% to 80% of cases in women.
Men can experience a mild to severe discomfort in either their penis or rectum from which they may also have a thick, yellow-green mucous-like discharge.
A swelling of the penile head is common, particularly at the meatus, which is the opening of the urethra. The urethra is located at the tip of the penis. When this swelling occurs there may also be redness and irritation at the opening of the penis that can be felt throughout the penile shaft. This may spread to the testicles or prostate, causing increasing lower abdominal pain or discomfort. Other symptoms may include a burning sensation when urinating or a low-grade fever.
Although women can experience the yellow-green discharge from the vagina or mild to severe lower abdominal cramps, fever, and vaginal odor, very often women have no symptoms whatsoever and thus can carry the bacteria for weeks, months or even years without knowledge of their infection!
A case of gonorrhea in a child is usually due to sexual abuse by an infected adult who is most often a relative of the child's. The child diagnosed with gonorrhea must be further investigated for the presence of other STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).
Diagnosis/Treatment
Gonorrhea can be diagnosed by culturing the discharge. In addition it is recommended that due to bacterial flora, cultures be taken from the cervix, rectum and pharynx located between the mouth and the esophagus.
To be treated for the infection you must take antibiotics, often given by mouth or injection, after which follow-up cultures need to be taken.
If you do not treat gonorrhea, it can leave you with a host of medical complications. Rarely, gonorrhea can affect the eyes (gonorrhea conjunctivitis) and cause blindness unless promptly treated. It may also lead to an inflammation of the cardiac chamber. Gonorrhea, like chlamydia, can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women, scarring of the fallopian tubes, which can lead to sterilization, infertility, chronic disease, pelvic pain and chronic miscarriages.
Untreated in males it can cause urethral strictures and inflammation of the prostate or damages to the testicular and the testes. If ignored over time gonorrhea can even destroy the articular surface in the bone joints. As well male sterility is a factor in untreated cases.
Finally when a person has at least one sexually transmitted disease, studies have shown that the risk for HIV transmission is much more likely. This is thought to be due to the body's altered defense mechanism when it is infected with a STD.
The most highly vulnerable sites of infection are:
- urethra
- penis
- rectum
- cervix
- throat
- ovaries
Treatment should always be administered by your health care provider. One of the most compelling reasons for this is that when gonorrhea is present in over 50% of patients there are other sexually transmitted diseases as well! Your health care provider might find it necessary to test you for syphilis, hepatitis B, chlamydia, and herpes. As well, a discussion about HIV testing and counseling is very important and indicated.
Do not attempt to cure yourself by substituting antibiotics prescribed for other illnesses or take antibiotics prescribed for others. If you do so, you might mask the original symptoms but the presence of gonorrhea may still be in your body ready to wreak havoc at a later period. You must complete the entire antibiotic treatment prescribed for you.
Should you even suspect that you have a sexually transmitted disease, please see your health care provider promptly.
Additional Resource:
- The CDC National STD Hotline 800-227-8922
- Unspeakable: The Naked Truth About STDs