Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that is more common in young people and is caused by a special type of bacteria that affects the reproductive system and may infect the mouth, or anus, as well as the reproductive system. Gonorrhea can be caused by vaginal intercourse, oral, or anal sex with an infected partner. A pregnant woman can pass the infection to her child during childbirth. Gonorrhea does not always cause symptoms. In men, gonorrhea can cause pain when urinating and discharge from the penis. If gonorrhea is not treated, it can cause prostate problems and testes. In women, the early symptoms of gonorrhea are often mild and later, gonorrhea can cause bleeding outside the menstrual cycle, or pain when urinating, and increased secretions of the vagina. If gonorrhea is not treated, it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, which causes pregnancy problems and infertility. Gonorrhea affects the urethra, rectum, throat and in females. Gonorrhea can also affect the cervix. In infants, gonorrhea often affects the eyes.
Symptoms of gonorrhea
About 50% of men with gonorrhea have no symptoms at all. If symptoms appear, they can include: painful urination, white, yellow or green discharge from the penis. Less common symptoms include itching or heartburn in the urethra. Other symptoms are often mild and unnoticeable. Untreated gonorrhea can lead to serious complications such as severe testicular pain or scrotum or so-called epididymitis. Gonorrhea can cause rectal inflammation and include symptoms of rectal inflammation in both men and women anal secretions, anal itching, anal warts, bleeding, or painful bowel movements and sometimes symptoms do not appear due to rectal inflammation as gonorrhea may cause pharyngitis that appears as inflammation In the throat.
Diagnosis of gonorrhea
Gonorrhea infection can be diagnosed in several ways including:
- Take a sample of fluid from the area where the symptoms appear using a swab of the penis, vagina, rectum, or throat and place it on a glass slide. If your doctor is suspected of a joint or blood infection, he will get a sample by pulling blood or inserting a needle into the joint to pull the fluid. A specific dye is then added to the sample and examined under the microscope. This method is relatively quick and easy, but it does not provide absolute certainty to diagnose gonorrhea.
- Take the same type of sample in the first method and place it on a special plate instead of a glass slide to dye it. This sample is incubated under ideal growth conditions for several days, where a colony of gonorrhea bacteria is formed if the person is infected with gonorrhea. The initial score may be ready within 24 hours but the final result takes up to three days.
Complications of gonorrhea
Untreated gonorrhea can lead to major complications, such as:
- Infertility in men. Men suffering from untreated gonorrhea can suffer from epididymis inflammation which is a small tube inflammation, wrapped in the back of the testes where the sperm channels (epididymis) are located. Inflammation of the epididymis is treatable, but if left untreated, it may lead to infertility.
- Infertility in women. Untreated gonorrhea can spread to the uterus and the fallopian tube, which can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to pipe scars and increase the risk of complications of pregnancy and infertility. Pelvic inflammation is a serious infection that requires immediate treatment.
- Infections that spread to the joints and other areas of the body: Bacteria that cause gonorrhea can spread through the blood stream and infect other parts of the body, including joints and appear as fever, rashes, skin sores, pain, swelling and stiff joints.
- Increased risk of HIV / AIDS. The presence of infected gonorrhea makes it more susceptible to HIV infection that leads to AIDS. A person with both gonorrhea and HIV is able to transmit both diseases more easily to his partner.
- Complications in infants: Gonorrhea in children with gonorrhea can develop into blindness, sores on the scalp and infections.
Treatment of gonorrhea
Most gonorrhea infections can be treated using modern antibiotics. There are no home remedies or over-the-counter medications that treat gonorrhea. The following is a detailed treatment for gonorrhea:
- Treatment of gonorrhea in adults: Adults with gonorrhea are treated with antibiotics. Because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, non-complex gonorrhea should be treated with the following antibiotics: Ceftriaxone injections plus azithromycin or doxycycline, two antibiotics taken Oral. Some research suggests that oral gimphloxacin or gentamicin, combined with oral azithromycin, is a highly successful treatment for gonorrhea. This treatment may be helpful in treating people who are allergic to cephalosporins (Cephalosporins) such as ceftriaxone.
- Treatment of gonorrhea for a life partner: A life partner must be tested and treated for gonorrhea, even if it does not have any signs or symptoms. The life partner receives the same treatment as the patient with the gonorrhea. The patient may be re-infected with gonorrhea if his partner has not been treated, although he has received treatment for gonorrhea.
- Treatment of gonorrhea for infants: Children born to mothers with gonorrhea receive a drug in their eyes immediately after birth to prevent infection. If eye infection develops, children can be treated with antibiotics.
Ways to prevent transmission of gonorrhea
To avoid re-infection with gonorrhea, abstain from unprotected sex for seven days after completion of treatment and disappearance of symptoms, if present. To reduce the risk of gonorrhea, the following steps can be taken:
- Use condoms if the person chooses to have sex. Abstinence during treatment is the surest way to prevent gonorrhea. But if you choose to have sex, condoms must be used during any sexual intercourse.
- Ask your partner to test STDs.
- Do not have sex with someone who has any unusual symptoms. If your partner has signs or symptoms of sexually transmitted infection, such as burning during urination, genital rash or inflammation, do not have sex with that person.
- Check gonorrhea periodically. The annual screening is recommended for all sexually active women under the age of 25 and for older women at risk of infection, such as having a new sexual partner or sex partner with a sexually transmitted infection. It is also recommended to conduct regular screening of men who have sex with men, as well as their partners.