Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is transmitted from person to person through oral or penetrating sex. In most cases, gonorrhea causes no symptoms, only discovered after routine exams, but in some people, there may be pain or burning sensation when urinating and a yellowish-white discharge, similar to pus.
It is important that gonorrhea is quickly identified and treated with the antibiotics indicated by the doctor, because otherwise the person may develop complications, such as infertility and inflammatory pelvic disease, for example.
- Gonorrhea is curable when treatment is done as recommended by your doctor.
- However.
- Some people may not respond adequately to treatment due to the resistance that bacteria acquire to commonly used antibiotics.
- Making it difficult to cure.
- In this case.
- It may be necessary to use a combination of different antibiotics to treat gonorrhea.
Symptoms of gonorrhea may appear up to 10 days after contact with the bacteria responsible for the disease; However, in most cases in women, gonorrhea is asymptomatic and is identified only during routine gynecological exams. For men, most cases are symptomatic and symptoms appear a few days after unprotected sexual contact.
In addition, signs and symptoms of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection may vary depending on the type of unprotected sex, i.e. oral, anal or penetrating, with the most common symptoms noted:
For women, when gonorrhea is not properly identified and treated, there is an increased risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, and there is also an increased risk of bacteria spreading to the bloodstream and causing joint pain, fever. and injuries to the limbs of the body.
In humans, complications are less common because most of the time they are symptomatic, making identification and initiation of gonorrhea treatment faster and easier.
However, when treatment is not done according to the urologist’s advice, complications such as urinary incontinence, feeling heaviness in the penis area and infertility may occur. Learn how to identify gonorrhea in men.
Gonorrhea in newborns can occur when the woman has the bacteria and the infection is not identified or treated during pregnancy, increasing the risk of transmitting Neisseria gonorrhoeae to the baby at the time of delivery.
Babies who come into contact with the bacteria during childbirth may have certain signs and symptoms, such as eye pain and swelling, purulent discharge, and difficulty opening the eyes, which can cause blindness if not treated properly.
Diagnosis of gonorrhea is made by the gynecologist or urologist based on physical examinations and results of laboratory tests, mainly microbiological, which are made from the analysis of urinary, vaginal or urethral secretions, in the case of men, which are collected in the laboratory. Qualified.
As amostras são levadas para o laboratório para análise onde são submetidas a uma série de testes para identificação da bactéria, além de também poderem ser realizados testes sorológicos e moleculares para identificação da Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
In addition, the antibiotic is performed to verify the sensitivity and resistance profile of the microorganism to the antibiotics normally used. This way, your doctor will be able to indicate the best antibiotic for the person’s treatment.
Treatment of gonorrhea should be guided by a gynecologist, in the case of women, or a urologist, in the case of men, and is usually done with the use of Azithromycin and Ceftriaxone tablets in a single injection to eliminate the bacteria responsible for the disease. . Organization. Your doctor usually says that treatment should be done in 7 to 10 days and that the person should follow this treatment even if the symptoms no longer exist.
During gonorrhea treatment, it is important for the person to avoid having sex until he or she is fully cured. In addition, the person’s sexual partner should also be treated with antibiotics, even if there are no symptoms, due to the risk of gonorrhea transmission to others. See how gonorrhea is treated.