Womens Health Blog

This is a common venereal disease that is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It can affect both men and women, and in five out of every six women infected by the bacterium there are no symptoms, which makes it more dangerous. The most serious aspect of this disease is that if it remains untreated during the incubation period (usually between about two and ten days), it progresses to the chronic form that sets up inflammation in the pelvis. If the ovaries and fallopian tubes are affected, they may become blocked and the scarring may cause infertility.

The risk of contracting gonorrhea seems to become higher if you are using oral contraceptives the infection seems to spread more quickly. The most common way many women suspect they may have become infected, is if they notice the recognizable symptoms of the disease in their male partners.

Should I See The Doctor?

If you suspect that you have gonorrhea, go to your doctor or to a sexually transmitted disease clinic and don’t have any sexual Contact with anyone until you are cured.

What Might The Doctor Do?

• Diagnosis of gonorrhea can be difficult, so your doctor will take some samples of the secretions from your urethra, cervix, and rectum and send them to a laboratory for further investigation. There is no reliable blood test.
• Special STD clinics give the best results, so even if you have a negative test and you know or think you may have had intercourse with someone with gonorrhea, insist on more tests or treatment.

What Is The Treatment?

• Penicillin is the mainstay of treatment and may be given in a slow release injectable form which requires only the one injection, making treatment easy. If the organism is resistant, ciprofloxacin can be given.
• You should then have a full gynecological examination to make sure the disease hasn’t caused pelvic inflammatory disease. Have a repeat gonorrhea culture to ascertain that the infection is gone.
• Gonorrhea can mask the symptoms of other sexually transmitted diseases, so you should be tested for syphilis too.

What Can I Do?

• If you discover you have gonorrhea, give the clinic the names of your sexual contacts so that they can get treatment before they infect others. Stop all sexual activity until you have been cured.
• You would be wise to have an IUD removed. You can have a new one fitted when you are clear of infection.
• As with all sexually transmitted diseases, gonorrhea is most common among young people under the age of 25 who have many sexual partners. Using condoms will decrease the probability of getting an infection or being reinfected.
• Check that your partner is not a carrier, since he could reinfect you even after you have been successfully treated.

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