When gonorrhea is not treated in time

According to experts from the National Institutes of Health of the United States, immediate treatment of an infection gonorrhea helps prevent permanent scarring and infertility. When treatment is delayed, there is a greater chance of suffering future complications and sterility.

Among the female population, about half of the women who suffer from gonorrhea are also infected with chlamydia, another sexually transmitted infection (STI) very common that can also produce sterility. Generally, chlamydia is treated at the same time as a gonorrhea infection. When you have this disease, it is important that your doctor perform other tests to detect other STIs, such as syphilis and HIV AIDS.

Possible complications in men and women

Complications in women can include:

  • Salpingitis, or scarring of the fallopian tubes, which can cause problems getting pregnant or having an ectopic pregnancy (outside the womb)
  • Pelvic inflammatory disease
  • Infertility or inability to achieve pregnancy
  • Painful sexual intercourse, or dyspareunia
  • Pregnant women with severe gonorrhea can transmit the disease to their baby while in the womb or during delivery.
  • Complications in men usually include:
  • Scarring or narrowing of the urethra, the tube that pulls urine out of the body
  • Abscess or accumulation of pus around the urethra
  • Problems with urination
  • Urinary infection
  • Renal insufficiency

Complications in both men and women can cause:

  • Disseminated infection that can be very serious
  • Prolonged joint pain if the infection is left untreated
  • Heart valve infection
  • Meningitis

If you have symptoms that suggest the presence of gonorrhea, you should call the doctor immediately.

 

Gonorrhea in newborns and children

If you are pregnant and you are infected with gonorrhea, you will probably be much more likely to suffer spontaneous abortion , to give birth to a dead baby, or to suffer a preterm delivery. During labor, it is possible to transmit the infection to your baby, since it must pass through the birth canal. In these cases, gonorrhea will infect the eyes of the baby and could cause blindness, among other conditions.

Should you discover that a child over 1 year of age is infected with gonorrhea, whether in the genital tract, in the mouth or in the rectum, you should investigate the causes since a child infected with gonorrhea could have been sexually abused .