GONORRHOEA INFECTION - ANOTHER STI

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.