Symptoms of gonorrhea

The gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted disease, caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Anyone with some type of intimate activity can contract it and the infection can be spread by contact with the mouth or reproductive parasites.

According to the specialists of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, entity responsible for the study of gonorrhea in the United States, the bacterium It proliferates in humid and warm body areas, including the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body). In women, bacteria can be found in the reproductive tract that includes the fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix. The Neisseria gonorrhoeae it can even expand to the eyes.

 

Symptoms of gonorrhea in men and women

Symptoms of gonorrhea usually appear 2 to 5 days after infection, however, in men can appear up to a month later; Some people, particularly women, do not show symptoms. Therefore, and given that they do not know that they have acquired the disease, they do not seek treatment increases the risk of complications and of possible transmission of the bacteria to another person.

Symptoms in men include: pain and burning when urinating , increase in urinary frequency or urgency, discharge from the penis (white, yellow or green), red or inflamed urethra, sensitive or inflamed testicles, sore throat (gonococcal pharyngitis). If left untreated, it can cause epididymitis, an inflammation of the epididymis (tubular structure behind the testicle where sperm matures and connects the testicle with the vas deferens) that can cause infertility.

The symptoms in women can be very mild or not very specific and they get confused with another type of infection. These symptoms are: vaginal discharge, pain, burning when urinating and urinary urgency (such as cystitis), sore throat, painful intimate relationships, severe pain in the lower abdomen and fever (if the infection spreads to the fallopian tubes) and to the stomach area). If the infection spreads to the bloodstream, fever, rash and arthritis-like symptoms usually occur. If gonorrhea is not treated, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which causes infertility problems Y disorders during pregnancy .

In addition, gonorrhea can be transmitted from the mother to the baby during pregnancy.

Is transmission infection It can be cured with antibiotics indicated by the doctor. The correct use of latex condoms greatly reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of contracting and spreading the bacteria.

 

Pharmacoresistance of the bacteria

For Catherine Ison , gonorrhea specialist of the Health Protection Agency of Great Britain, the bacteriological agent that causes the disease can become a "superbug "Drug resistant if doctors do not discover new ways to fight it. It is "a very smart bacterium. If we do not deal with this problem, there is a real possibility that gonorrhea will become a very difficult infection to treat, "said this expert leader in sexual health.


 


Video Medicine: Gonorrhea ¦ Treatment and Symptoms (May 2024).