Gonorrhea Health Article

Signs and tests

Tests used to diagnose gonorrhea in women include:

• Cervical gram stain
• Endocervical culture for gonorrhea

Tests used to diagnose gonorrhea in men include:

• Gram stain of urethral discharge
• Urethral discharge culture for gonorrhea

Tests used to diagnose gonorrhea in both men and women:

• Throat swab culture
• Rectal culture
• Ligase chain reaction (LCR) test

Gonorrhea can be quickly identified by staining a sample of tissue or discharge from the infected and then looking at it under the microscope. This is called a gram stain. Although this method is the fastest, it is not the most certain.

Cultures (cells that grow in a lab dish) provide absolute proof of infection. Generally, samples for a culture are taken from the cervix, vagina, urethra, anus, or throat. Cultures can provide a preliminary diagnosis often within 24 hours and a confirmed diagnosis within 72 hours.

DNA tests for the gonorrhea have been developed. They are especially useful as a screening test because they are quicker than cultures. Such tests can also be performed on urine samples, which are a lot easier to collect than samples from the genital area.

Treatment

There are two goals in treating a sexually transmitted disease, especially one as easily spread as gonorrhea. The first is to cure the infection in the patient. The second is to locate and test all of the other people the person had sexual contact with and treat them to prevent further spread of the disease.

Penicillin used to be given to patients with gonorrhea. But it is not often used anymore because some types of the gonorrhea bacteria no longer respond to the drug. This is called antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is major public health threat in which bacteria cannot be killed with the usual antibiotic medicines.

The bacteria responsible for gonorrhea is growing increasingly resistant to another class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, which includes ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, or levofloxacin. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommendeds against using these medicines to treat gonorrhea.

Antibiotics called cephalosporins, including Ceftriaxone (Rocephin), are recommended for persons with gonorrhea. A medicine called Azithromycin (Zithromax) may be given to persons with uncomplicated infections.

A follow-up visit 7 days after treatment is important, especially for women who may not have symptoms associated with the infection.