Gonorrhea is a disease from a group of sexually transmitted infections. Gonorrhea in men is most acute and characterized by inflammatory lesions of the urethra. In addition, the symptoms are itching and burning sensation when urinating, cloudy urine, pelvic pain, and rubbing (Dombrowski, 2021). If the untreated infection spreads to the upper parts of the genitourinary system, the signs are joined by an increase in body temperature, difficulty in urination, and pain when defecating. In women, gonorrhea does not always have the typical symptoms and often occurs in subacute form. This is because there may be a mixed infection in the genital tract (Dombrowski, 2021).
Therefore, besides gonorrhea, smears detected trichomonads, ureaplasma, and other pathogenic flora. The most typical symptoms include vaginal discharge with an admixture of pus, reddening of the mucosa of the external genitalia, small sores on their surface, and lower abdominal pain.
It is significant to emphasize that without treatment in women, the infection can penetrate from the urethra through the uterine cavity and fallopian tubes to the abdominal cavity. This causes the development of pelvic inflammatory disease, leading to internal abscesses and persistent damage to the fallopian tubes and uterus (Dombrowski, 2021). Furthermore, terminal ileitis with peritonitis is an unusual extragenital manifestation of gonococcal infection.
If the inflammatory process becomes chronic, the menstrual cycle is disturbed in women, and the adhesion process in the pelvis develops. This can lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages, and chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Hence, gonorrhea must be treated with antibiotics so that Jane does not suffer from infertility. However, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea quickly adapt to antibiotics (Dombrowski, 2021). Each time humans use a new class of antibiotics to treat this infection, the bacteria adapt and develop drug resistance.
Reference
Dombrowski, J. C. (2021). Chlamydia and gonorrhea. Annals of Internal Medicine, 174(10), 145-160. Web.