Gonorrhea is a common human sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain.
In both men and women, if gonorrhea is left untreated, it may spread locally, causing epididymitis or pelvic inflammatory disease or throughout the body, affecting joints and heart valves.
The common treatment is with ceftriaxone (Rocephin), as antibiotic resistance has developed to many previously used medications.
This is typically given in combination with either azithromycin or doxycycline, as gonorrhea infections may occur along with chlamydia, an infection that ceftriaxone does not cover.
Some strains of gonorrhea have begun showing resistance to this treatment, which will make infection more difficult to treat.
Most infected men have symptoms such as urethritis associated with burning with urination and discharge from the penis.
Either sex may also acquire gonorrhea of the throat from performing oral sex on an infected partner, usually a male partner. Such infection is asymptomatic in 90% of cases, and produces a sore throat in the remaining 10%.
The incubation period is 2 to 14 days, with most of these symptoms occurring between 4 and 6 days after being infected. Rarely, gonorrhea may cause skin lesions and joint infection (pain and swelling in the joints) after traveling through the blood stream (see below).
Very rarely it may settle in the heart causing endocarditis or in the spinal column causing meningitis (both are more likely among individuals with suppressed immune systems, however).
Men have a 20% risk of getting the infection from a single act of vaginal intercourse with an infected woman. The risk for men that have sex with men is higher.
Women have a 60–80% risk of getting the infection from a single act of vaginal intercourse with an infected man.
A mother may transmit gonorrhea to her newborn during childbirth; when affecting the infant's eyes, it is referred to as ophthalmia neonatorum. It cannot be spread by toilets or bathrooms.
The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain.
In both men and women, if gonorrhea is left untreated, it may spread locally, causing epididymitis or pelvic inflammatory disease or throughout the body, affecting joints and heart valves.
The common treatment is with ceftriaxone (Rocephin), as antibiotic resistance has developed to many previously used medications.
This is typically given in combination with either azithromycin or doxycycline, as gonorrhea infections may occur along with chlamydia, an infection that ceftriaxone does not cover.
Some strains of gonorrhea have begun showing resistance to this treatment, which will make infection more difficult to treat.
Signs and symptoms
Half of women with gonorrhea are asymptomatic, whereas others have vaginal discharge, lower abdominal pain or pain with intercourse.Most infected men have symptoms such as urethritis associated with burning with urination and discharge from the penis.
Either sex may also acquire gonorrhea of the throat from performing oral sex on an infected partner, usually a male partner. Such infection is asymptomatic in 90% of cases, and produces a sore throat in the remaining 10%.
The incubation period is 2 to 14 days, with most of these symptoms occurring between 4 and 6 days after being infected. Rarely, gonorrhea may cause skin lesions and joint infection (pain and swelling in the joints) after traveling through the blood stream (see below).
Very rarely it may settle in the heart causing endocarditis or in the spinal column causing meningitis (both are more likely among individuals with suppressed immune systems, however).
Cause
Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The infection is transmitted from one person to another through vaginal, oral, or anal sex.Men have a 20% risk of getting the infection from a single act of vaginal intercourse with an infected woman. The risk for men that have sex with men is higher.
Women have a 60–80% risk of getting the infection from a single act of vaginal intercourse with an infected man.
A mother may transmit gonorrhea to her newborn during childbirth; when affecting the infant's eyes, it is referred to as ophthalmia neonatorum. It cannot be spread by toilets or bathrooms.
