Sex is Fun until one gets Gonorrhea Part 1

Gonorrhea is one of the most common and oldest known sexually transmitted disease (STD). It can cause urethritis (infection of urethra), cervicitis (infection of cervix), epididymitis, pharyngitis (sore throat), proctitis (rectal inflammation) and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

If not treated, the disease can spread throughout the body. However, because the genital symptoms are so unpleasant most individuals seek help before the disease has a chance of spreading.

Gonorrhea is the second most common cause of PID in and caused by a bacteria known as Neisseria gonorrhea. The infection is acquired via sexual intercourse (both vaginal and anal). Recent data show that the disorder is increasingly being transmitted to the throat via oral sex. It can also be transmitted from the mother's genital tract to the newborn during birth to cause ophthalmia neonatorum (eye infection) and systemic neonatal infection.

Gonorrhea is a reportable infectious disease in the United States (meaning that all doctors have to report the patient to a government agency that documents such infections). Gonorrhea had declined in the 80s and 90s, but there has been a resurgence of the infection in the last 2 decades.