NORTH COAST WOMEN’S HEALTH
707-443-3557 Barbara
Marchi, N.P.
GONORRHEA
What is gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted
disease (STD).
What causes gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that
can grow and multiply easily in mucous membranes of the body. Gonorrhea bacteria can grow
in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix
(opening to the womb), uterus (womb), and fallopian tubes (egg canals) in
women, and in the urethra (urine canal) in women and men. The bacteria can also grow in the mouth,
throat, and anus.
How do people get gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is spread through
sexual contact (vaginal, oral, or anal).
This includes penis-to-vagina, penis-to-mouth, penis-to-anus,
mouth-to-vagina, and mouth-to-anus contact.
Ejaculation does not have to occur for
gonorrhea to be transmitted or acquired.
Gonorrhea can also be spread from mother to child during birth.
Gonorrhea infection can spread
to other unlikely parts of the body. For
example, a person can get an eye infection after touching infected genitals and
then the eyes. Individuals who have had
gonorrhea and received treatment may get infected attain if they have sexual
contact with persons infected with gonorrhea.
How common is gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is a very common
infectious disease. Each year
approximately 650,000 people in the
What are the signs and symptoms of gonorrhea?
When initially infected, the
majority of men have some signs or symptoms.
Symptoms and signs include a burning sensation when urinating and a
yellowish white discharge from the penis.
Sometime men with gonorrhea get painful or swollen testicles.
In women, the early symptoms of
gonorrhea are often mild, and many women who are infected have no symptoms of
infection. Even when a woman has
symptoms, they can be so non-specific as to be mistaken for a bladder or vaginal
infection. The initial symptoms and
signs in women include a painful or burning sensation when urinating and a
vaginal discharge that is yellow or occasionally bloody. Women with no or mild gonorrhea symptoms are
still at risk of developing serious complications from the infection. Untreated gonorrhea in women can develop into
pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).
Symptoms of rectal infection
include discharge, anal itching, soreness, bleeding, and sometimes painful
bowel movements. Infections in the
throat cause few symptoms.
When do symptoms appear?
In males, symptoms usually
appear 2 to 5 days after infection, but it can take as long as 30 days for
symptoms to begin. Regardless of
symptoms, once a person is infected with gonorrhea, he or she can spread the
infection to others if condoms or other protective barriers are not used during
sex.
How is gonorrhea diagnosed?
Several laboratory tests are
available to diagnose gonorrhea. A
health care provider can obtain a sample of fluid from the infected mucus
membrane (cervix, urethra, rectum, or throat) and send the specimen to a
laboratory for analysis. Gonorrhea that
is present in the male or female genital tract can be diagnosed in a laboratory
by using a urine specimen from an infected person. A quick laboratory test for gonorrhea that
can be done in the clinic or doctor’s office is a Gram stain. The Gram stain allows the health care
provider to see the gonorrhea bacteria under a microscope. This test works better for men than women.
Who is at risk for gonorrhea?
Any sexually active person can
be infected with gonorrhea. In the
What is the treatment for gonorrhea?
Many of the currently used
antibiotics can successfully cure gonorrhea in adolescents and adults. Penicillin is a common antibiotic that is no
longer used to treat gonorrhea, because many strains of the gonorrhea bacterium
have become resistant to penicillin.
Because many people with gonorrhea also have chlamydia, antibiotics for
both infections are usually given together.
Persons with gonorrhea should also be screened for other STDs.
It is important to take all of
the medication prescribed to cure gonorrhea, even if the symptoms or signs stop
before all the medication is gone.
Although medication will stop the infection, it will not repair any
permanent damage done by the disease.
Persons who have had gonorrhea and have been treated can also get the
disease again if they have sexual contact with an infected person.
What are the complications of gonorrhea?
Untreated gonorrhea can cause
serious and permanent problems in both women and men.
In women, gonorrhea is a common
cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).
About 1 million women each year in the
In men, gonorrhea can cause
epididymitis, a painful condition of the testicles that can sometimes lead to
infertility if left untreated. Without
prompt treatment, gonorrhea can also affect the prostate and can lead to
scarring inside the urethra, making urination difficult.
Gonorrhea can spread to the
blood or joints. This condition can be
life-threatening. Also, persons with
gonorrhea can more easily contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Persons with HIV infection and gonorrhea are
more likely than persons with HIV infection alone to transmit HIV to someone
else.
How does gonorrhea affect a pregnant women and her baby?
If a pregnant woman has
gonorrhea, she may give the infection to her infant as the baby passes through
the birth canal during delivery. This
can cause blindness, joint infection, or a life-threatening blood infection in
the baby. Treatment of gonorrhea as soon
as it is detected in pregnant women will lessen the risk of these
complications. Pregnant women should
consult a health care provider for appropriate medications.
How can gonorrhea be prevented?
Use latex condoms correctly
every time you have sex.
Persons who choose to engage in
sexual behaviors that can place them at risk for STDs should use latex condoms
every time they have sex. A condom put
on the penis before starting sex and worn until the penis is withdrawn can help
protect both the male and the female partner from gonorrhea. When a male condom cannot be used
appropriately, sex partners should consider using a female condom.
Condoms do not provide complete
protection from all STDs. Sores and
lesions of other STDs on infected men and women may be present in areas not
covered by the condom, resulting in transmission of infection to another
person.
Limit the number of sex
partners, and do not go back and forth between partners.
Practice sexual abstinence,
or limit sexual contact to one uninfected partner.
If you think you are
infected, avoid sexual contact and see a health care provider immediately.
Any genital symptoms such as
discharge or burning during urination or unusual sore or rash should be signal to stop having sex and to consult a health care
provider immediately. If you are told
you have gonorrhea or any other STD and receive treatment, you should notify
all of your recent sex partners so that they can see a health care provider and
be treated. This will reduce the risk
that your partners will develop serious complications from gonorrhea and will
reduce your own risk of becoming reinfected.
Fact sheet
information taken off the Centers for Disease Control web site www.cdc.gov.