Medical Diseases List

Gonorrhoea - Symptom, Causes, Treatment of Gonorrhoea

Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmissible disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These germs generally infect the membranes lining the genital and lower urinary tracts, parts exposed to infection during unprotected sex with an affected partner. The throat and rectum can be infected during oral and anal sex respectively. A woman is more likely to be infected during one sexual episode with an infected man than vice versa. because the bacteria are carried into her vagina by the man's semen

Symptoms of Gonorrhoea

There is an incubation period of 2 to 10 days before symptoms appear. In women there are often no symptoms until the gonorrhoea has spread Infection of the cervix (neck of the uterus) may cause increased vaginal discharge, which is often yellowish and smelly, and sometimes pain with intercourse. If the urethra (which drains urine from the bladder) is involved, there may be discomfort on passing urine and a frequent urge to urinate. If the Bartholin's glands that secrete lubricating fluid onto the vulva berome infected, there may be a painful lump near the entrance to the vagina on one or both sides.

In men, symptoms of Gonorrhoea are likely to appear earlier than in women and be more obvious. The commonest are a yellow discharge from the urethra and discomfort during or shortly after passing urine. If the infection has spread beyond the urethra, there may be lower abdominal pain and pain or swelling around the testes.

In both women and men, Gonorrhoea of the rectum from anal intercourse can cause pain during bowel movements and a discharge from the anus. Oral-receptive sex can lead to throat infection, which usually causes no symptoms but can be transmitted to a partner during fellatio or cunnilingus. Infection transferred to the eye can cause conjunctivitis.

Diagnosis of Gonorrhoea

Your doctor will take swabs from the discharge and other possible sites of infection: the cervix, rectum and throat. Medical staff at most sexual health clinics examine a slide made from the swabs straight away in case it seems advisable to start treatment without waiting for lab results. which can take from 2 days to a week or more.

However, growing the bacteria is the only way to be certain about gonorrhoea, and the germs that have been grown can be tested for sensitivity to various antibiotics (some strains of N. gonorrhoeae have become resistant to certain antibiotics). When all lab results are available, it will be necessary to confirm that you are taking the right antibiotic. If gonorrhoea (or another sexually transmitted disease) is found. your doctor will advise that your sexual partner or partners should also be tested and treated. Sexual health clinics have counsellors who will help to identify and contact others who may be infected.

Treament of Gonorrhoea

Gonorrhoea can be cured by antbiotics. Hospital treatment with intravenous antibiotics is advised if complications have developed. The treatment your doctor recommends depends on which antibiotics are effective against the strain causing your infection. whether you are allergic to any antibiotic or have had previous bad, reactions, whether you are pregnant. where the infection is, and how far it has spread. It is important to take the antibiotics regularly and complete the course, and you will be asked to return when you have finished the treatment for repeat tests to make sure that the infection has cleared.

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