Symptoms in girls: Like Chlamydia, most cases of this infection are asymptomatic in girls and women. Many women find out about their illness only after their partner is diagnosed with gonorrhea.
In symptomatic cases, the disease is usually mild. Symptoms may include burning of urine, increased urination, abnormal green-yellow vaginal discharge, which may be cloudy or bloody, abdominal pain, intercourse pain, bleeding between periods, periods with severe bleeding and painful bumps around the genital tract.
Complications: Gonorrhea is easily treatable, but can cause serious injury if left untreated. In women, pelvic and ovarian infection can lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancy. Transmission of the infection from a woman to baby during childbirth can lead to serious injuries to the baby, such as blindness, meningitis, arthritis, and diffuse bloodstream infection. In untreated men, infection can lead to a testicular infection that can lead to sterility. The disease can also lead to stenosis of the urethra and cause difficulty in urinating. In both males and females, untreated infections can spread to the skin, joints, or blood.
Diagnosis and treatment: Diagnosis is usually made by examination, but the health worker may also ask for a discharge test. In the early stages, gonorrhea is easily curable. Advanced forms of the disease will require longer treatment or hospitalization. Sometimes treatment is difficult because the strain of gonorrhea is resistant to the antibiotics usually used to treat it.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are closely associated, so the doctor will treat the patient for both infections so more than one type of antibiotic may be prescribed.
Simultaneous treatment of sexual partner(s) is essential.