Today, the main danger of gonococcal infection is that the signs of gonorrhea are not at all as clear as they used to be. Unfortunately, the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, has not decreased at all in recent years. But the number of diagnosed episodes of gonococcal infection in the early stages, on the contrary, is not encouraging, since taking a large number of drugs for various reasons, including antibiotics, as well as the addition of other infectious agents, give a blurred picture of infection, which is why gonorrhea begins to be treated already in running forms.
Dangers of gonococcal infection and how it spreads
Gonococci are sexually transmitted infections. Gonorrhea has been known since such ancient times that, according to some experts, it was even mentioned in ancient religious books. However, today it remains one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Gonococcal infection quickly dies when heated even by sunlight, does not withstand antiseptics and drying. But at the same time, gonococci can penetrate into epithelial cells, into leukocytes, often live in Trichomonas cells or form L-forms that are not sensitive to most drugs.
Gonococci cause an infectious and inflammatory process in the genitourinary system. The danger of gonococcal infection is that with untimely treatment, the inflammatory process spreads upward and is carried by the bloodstream throughout the body. In this case, the musculoskeletal system may be affected, gonorrheal endocarditis, conjunctivitis and even meningitis may develop, and severe septic conditions are likely. The most common complication of gonococcal infection is infertility, both in men and women.
Gonorrhea is usually contracted sexually, through any form of sexual contact. Transmission of the infection from mother to newborn child is possible. During sexual intercourse, the risk of infection for a woman is more than 80%, for men - about 30%. The difference is explained by the peculiarities of the structure of the female genitourinary system, because of which girls are at risk of catching gonococcal infections even through bed linen, towels and personal hygiene items.
Signs of gonorrhea, including mild symptoms
Typical symptoms of acute gonorrhea include:
- frequent and painful urination;
- serous-purulent discharge from the vagina or penis;
- itching, burning, rashes in the genital area, the appearance of ulcers on the mucous membranes;
- pain in the lower abdomen;
- women may experience bleeding between periods.
It happens that a patient gets a gonococcal infection from a carrier partner who has also recently taken antibiotics. In this case, the pathogen is weakened, and the clinical manifestations of gonorrhea will be blurred, not intense. Anxiety will gradually disappear, the patient's alertness will go away, but the disease will turn into a chronic form with complications.
Ineffective antibiotics against gonococcal infections or taking antibacterial drugs to treat other concomitant diseases - all this leads to a sluggish chronic process that is difficult to treat.
The most difficult option is a combination of gonococcal infection and trichomonas, and sometimes chlamydia. In the treatment of Trichomonas, gonococci hide in the cells of this pathogen and become resistant to drugs. And with the death of Trichomonas in the course of treatment, there is a massive release of gonococci resistant to many antibiotics. Such a process, turning into a chronic form, is difficult to treat even according to the most adequate schemes.
Modern methods of treatment of gonococcal infection
When prescribing treatment, all signs of gonorrhea are taken into account - to determine the duration of the process, its prevalence and the presence of complications, concomitant infections. Today, there are effective antibacterial drugs that can successfully treat gonorrhea - cephalosporin drugs are most often used. Gonococci are generally resistant to penicillins. If treatment is ineffective, alternative antibiotics are selected - for example, trimethoprim, amoxicillin. In asymptomatic forms, combined infections, it is necessary to supplement the treatment with immunotherapy. According to the situation, local treatment, physiotherapy are added.
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