Gonorrhea has increased in young people under 25 years of age up to 10 times in the last 20 years. Gonorrhea, gonorrhea, purges, that’s what we call one of the most frequent Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), present in both men and women.
doctor Fernando Meijide Rico
Associate of the Hospital Ribera POVISA Urology Service, member center of Top Doctors.
Gonococo
The responsible is the gonococcus, neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is transmitted during sexual intercourse. He is staying in the male urethra where it produces a drop-shaped secretion, purulent in appearance and that in intercourse he contaminates his partner.
symptoms in man
The symptoms, in the male, begin 3 to 10 days after contact and are dependent on this urethral infiltrate producing pain when urinating, with burning burning discomfort, as well as micturition symptoms such as increased frequency.
The gonococcus can also be found rectal and oropharyngeal level, according to the sexual practice carried out. More rarely it can be present in the conjunctiva of the child infected by its mother during childbirth.
symptoms in women
In women, symptoms may start later, up to a month, and these depend on the degree of uterine cervical involvement, place where the germ resides. start a purulent vaginal discharge with a certain degree of itching and if the affectation progresses appear acute pelvic symptoms. Urethral involvement, which would also cause micturition pain, is less frequent. In women, the symptoms may be absent and continue to contaminate unknowingly and without perceiving any pathology, until the germ infects more internal areas, producing pelvic inflammatory disease.
Well it’s true that sexual transmission of this germ does not always produce the disease. The male carrier of the gonococcus infects 40% of the women with whom he interacts in a coitus, and instead infected women transmit it to only 10% of men.
Relaxation in the use of condoms
This may explain why this increase in its prevalence is not greater than that described despite the relaxation in the use of condoms or misuse of themthe knowledge of the young population that thinks that the disease is curable with easy treatment, and that precautions be relaxed in relation to relationships with unknown and risky people.
With the use of penicillin derivatives since World War II, this disease had been greatly controlled, in addition, the condom as the only method of birth control has kept couples free of disease.
Contraceptive drugs in women
With the advent of contraceptive drugs in women there was a true sexual revolution and the condom, which produces a true barrier to gonococcus, has been largely abandoned. Then a new upturn in STIs appears, among them gonorrhea, which rises contributing to its expansion, changes in society and its new sexual habits.
Treatments to eradicate gonococcus
It is true that we currently have good treatments to eradicate gonococcus from our body, but recidivism in contamination and bad practices or relaxation between unknown couples when it comes to prevention has given rise over the years to antibiotic resistant gonococci most used. Therefore, it is important for doctors find out which germ is responsible and which type of antibiotic is appropriate and that is usually a single dose of treatment. In addition, urethral or vaginal sampling should be repeated after three weeks or a month to verify that they are well treated, thus ruling out infection.
It is a curable disease, with good sexual practices together with adequate sexual education in young populations, above all, we could reduce, and greatly, the current elevation of this STI.