Our current lifestyle is a permissive one and as a result, almost
50% of high school students are sexually active. It is estimated this results
in almost 1 million people around the world, get 4 major STI’s Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea,
Trichomoniasis, and Syphilis every day. This is a huge burden on society. Most
of these are young adults between the ages of 15 – 24. How very sad. Gonorrhoea
is a sexually transmitted infection caused by bacteria called Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. In women it comes after sexual intercourse
from the penis of an infected partner. The time it takes for the infection to
take hold is 1-14 days. It can cause infection in the vagina, throat, and anus
to start with, depending on your sexual preferences. Some men and women do not have any symptoms
to start with. However the main symptoms are vaginal or urethral discharge,
pain on passing urine, having sex or during periods. Women may also get bleeding
during sex or even at odd times. It can cause a sore throat, pain on bowel
motion, itching around the anus. If left untreated for a while it can affect
the cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes, resulting in full blown pelvic inflammatory
disease. This can make women really sick with fever, vomiting, and lower
abdominal pain. It can even spread into the blood causing arthritis,
tenosynovitis, dermatitis and conjunctivitis; this is called Disseminated Gonoccocal
Infection and can be a serious problem. If a woman has an STI, it is easier to
catch HIV and other infections.
Diagnosis is made by a nucleic acid amplification test, which tests
the DNA or the swab cultures from the urine, urethra, and the cervix.
The partner should always be tested. The treatment is by two antibiotics,
ceftriaxone and azithromycin. This takes care of Chlamydia as well as it often
occurs with gonnococcal infections. If a woman is found to have one STI, she
should be tested for all others. If a woman is pregnant the baby can acquire
the infection and can sometimes cause blindness.
The only way to prevent these infections is to always have safe sex
with condoms or dental dams.
