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Ask Dr. Hennessy What is Gonorrhea? Gonorrhea, like chlamydia, is a disease that you can get from having sex. It is a bacteria and it can be treated if we know that you have it. Nationwide, over half a million new cases are reported every year. That makes it a common infection seen in sexually-active people. One of the creepiest things about this infection is that most of the people who test positive for gonorrhea do not have a clue that they even have it. That is why it is so important to get tested. You also should know that females under 25 years of age are at highest risk of catching this disease compared with guys of any age and women of other age groups. Furthermore, many people that have gonorrhea also have chlamydia too. Please see the discussion on chlamydia to learn more about that disease. Again here is my plea to all of you....if you have sex, then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE see a doctor ever year to test for this and other diseases. Well, I got more to say about gonorrhea. Like many other infections, gonorrhea can pass to and from the vagina and the penis of infected people during sex. It can also pass from the sex organs to someone's mouth and throat during oral sex and to someone's butt during anal sex. As with other sexually-transmitted diseases, it can also pass from a mother to her baby during childbirth. This can lead to blindness in the infant if not treated promptly. All pregnant women are tested for this disease. The symptoms of gonorrhea can be similar to chlamydia such as dysuria (pain when you pee) for both men and women. It can cause discharge from the penis or the vagina. You often don't feel discharge leaking but may notice a smelly liquid in your underwear. Girls may have stomach pain, back pain, or fever and these symptoms can be a sign of a severe infection. Most people, however, do not have any symptoms at all, especially women. So what happens if you don't treat it? Well, for one thing you can continue to spread it to others. For females, the infection can spread to your uterus (your womb) or to your fallopian tubes. This can set up females for a very serious disease which can make you very sick. This type of infection is known as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). PID may require you to stay in the hospital for treatment. In addition, it can cause scarring of the female organs which may make it difficult or impossible for you to have kids one day or it may cause long-term pain. This scarring can also lead to an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy in the fallopian tube and can be life-threatening. For males, it may also cause scarring that leads to infertility, which means that they may not be able to father kids of their own one day. So how do you know if you have it? Bottom line is you need to see a doctor. If you have symptoms like I described above then obviously see a doctor as soon as possible. While you are waiting to see that doctor, make sure that you hold off on having sex. If, however, you are not having symptoms but you do have sex or have had sex in the past then I recommend that you see a doctor every year. The doctor will likely complete an exam of your sex organs and run some lab tests that are usually back in a couple of days. If you have one disease from having sex then you still can have another sexually-transmitted disease so the doctor will check for other diseases as well. Remember most people that have gonorrhea don't know it so get the test. Now for treatment. For gonorrhea, the doctor usually gives you medicine in a pill form or in a shot. A chlamydia infection is very common to occur along with gonorrhea so your doctor may treat you for that too. If it is more serious, like the PID that I discussed above, then you may have to get antibiotics in the hospital. After treatment, the doctor will usually want to see you back again in about 3-4 months to make sure that you have cleared the infection. The recheck exam does require a swab of the cervix for girls and a pee test for the boys. The pee test is not a good test for gonorrhea in girls. Also remember if you have gonorrhea then you need to tell your partner so that he or she can be treated too. I often see patients who continue to test positive for gonorrhea because they don't tell their sex partners or their sex partners don't get treated. Then my patients get infected all over again. The health department can help you with contacting your partners. After you get medicine from your doctor for gonorrhea, you should not have sex again until at least seven days after you finish your medications and your partner has also been treated. Is there any way to prevent you from getting gonorrhea? You already know that not having sex will prevent you from getting gonorrhea, like other sexually-transmitted diseases. If you are having sex, keep in mind that condoms will help prevent the spread. They should be used every time that you have sex. Even though condoms are good, remember that they are still not 100%. Don't use that as an excuse to skip the condoms. You need to find out how to use them properly as well. You doctor can help you with this but you need to ask. Also remember, you can't tell that a person has gonorrhea just by looking at them. Stay tuned for next month when I discuss trichomoniasis and some its look-a-likes bacterial vaginosis and yeast. For other Ask Dr. Hennessy articles, click here Email: Margaret.Hennessy@wfhc.org |