In the article we will consider the first signs of gonorrhea. What is this pathology?
Gonorrhea is one of the most common infectious sexually transmitted diseases, which is caused by gonococci. It is transmitted, as a rule, sexually. With gonorrhea, the mucous membranes of the genitourinary system are affected, but sometimes the mucous membranes of the rectum, oral cavity and nasopharynx are affected. Skin integuments in the occurrence of this pathology are affected very rarely. Signs of gonorrhea are important to recognize in a timely manner.
Today, this pathology is considered a very serious social problem, since a huge number of people of working age are infected with it. Gonorrhea occurs in all age groups, however, adolescents, teenagers and young people under 30 years of age are most at risk of infection. Among adolescents, the disease is most common among girls, while among adults it is more common in men.
The appearance of the first signsgonorrhea in men and women can contribute to:
- Increase in the population at risk.
- Social cataclysms associated with the deterioration of sanitary and hygienic environmental conditions.
- Promiscuous sex.
- Alcohol and drug abuse.
- Prostitution.
Signs of gonorrhea will be discussed below.
Pathogen
The causative agent of this pathology is Neisseria gonorrhea or gonococcus. The cell walls of this microbe consist of three layers. In the outer layer there are special processes that help the infection spread. After penetration into the human body, the microorganism with the help of these processes is firmly attached to the epithelial cells. Then gonococci penetrate through the intercellular spaces, which leads to the activation of the immune system and the development of inflammatory processes.
Immune defense cells (neutrophils) with the blood flow are related to the place of introduction of gonococci and begin to actively destroy pathogens. However, the gonococci absorbed by them, as a rule, do not die and can continue to multiply, developing an inflammatory process. The purulent masses formed as a result of this process are a large number of dead cells, inside of which infectious gonococci are located. Pus accumulates on the surfaces of the affected mucous membranes and may be discharged from the urogenital canals. As the disease progresses, gonorrhea pathogens spread to new areasmucous membranes, affecting all new organs and leading to various complications of this disease. Signs of gonorrhea in men and women then appear even stronger.
In addition, gonococci are able to penetrate into the lymphatic vessels and spread with the flow of lymph to distant organs. Very rarely, but these microbes are able to penetrate into the blood, which leads to the development of a variety of purulent complications.
It should be noted that gonococci have a very high resistance and, under the influence of certain factors, they are able to turn into L-forms that are not able to multiply. However, they can survive for a long time in the most adverse conditions, and then reactivate.
They die when the liquids with which they were excreted from the body dry out, and when heated to 40-50 degrees, gonococci die almost immediately, just like when they get into a soap or saline solution. In addition, gonococci are very sensitive to the bulk of antibacterial agents and antiseptics.
Methods of contracting gonorrhea
The source of infection with gonococci is, as a rule, a sick person who often does not know that he is the carrier of this infection, since this disease can occur in a latent form. The following modes of disease transmission are known:
- Signs of gonorrhea in women often appear after unprotected sex. This is the most common route of infection, in which pathogens pass to a he althy person. However, sexualProximity with the carrier of the infection is not always able to lead to the development of the disease. After a single contact, a man becomes ill in about 20% of cases, while a woman after contact with an infected man becomes ill in 80% of cases. This difference is due to the anatomical structure of the urethra in women and men, which in women is wider and shorter, which contributes to the rapid penetration of infection.
- Contact-household transmission of gonococcus. The infection can enter the body through household items - towels, bedding, washcloths, linen, etc. This path of spread of the pathogen is very rare - in about 1% of cases, due to the low resistance of gonococcal infection to environmental conditions.
- Vertical path. This method of transmission of gonococcus is characterized by infection of the fetus during passage through the birth canal. In this case, pathogens can affect the mucous membranes of the eyes, mouth and genital organs of the child. Not everyone knows the signs of gonorrhea.
Incubation period for gonorrhea
This period is a period of time starting at the moment of penetration of infection agents into the body until the first clinical signs of pathology appear. The incubation period after infection with gonococcus lasts from 10 hours to several weeks, which is due to some features of the pathogen and the activity of the immunity of a particular patient. On average, in men, symptoms appear after 4-5 days, the first signs of gonorrhea in women occur after 7-10 daysafter contact. A longer incubation period is observed in the elderly and in people with weak immune defenses. The shortest - with a high dose of the pathogen obtained by contact. Frequent change of partners is considered one of the most significant factors in the spread of gonococcus.
Signs of gonorrhea in women are shown below.
Disease types
In medical practice, it is customary to classify this disease depending on the incubation period, the rate of development of the disease and the severity of its clinical manifestations. It is very important to accurately determine the form of gonorrhea, since the diagnosis and treatment tactics depend on it.
In accordance with the above, allocate:
- fresh;
- chronic;
- hidden (latent) gonorrhea.
Signs of gonorrhea at all stages are different.
Symptoms and main signs of the disease
What are the signs of gonorrhea in men:
- Acute urethritis.
- Pain and itching in the urethra, most often in the morning.
- Pain during ejaculation.
- Discharge from the urethra. As a rule, they are characterized by purulent contents of a thick consistency of yellow or greenish color, with an unpleasant odor. They also appear most often in the morning.
- Isolation of blood from the urethra. They are minor and are associated with damage to the urethral mucosa.
- Hemospermia, which is the appearance of a small amount of blood in the semen.
- Impaired urination.
- Rise in temperature. Temperaturewith gonorrhea it can be normal, but the development of acute urethritis is often accompanied by its increase to 38 degrees. When purulent joins the inflammatory process, the temperature can even rise to 40 degrees. These are the main symptoms and signs of gonorrhea in men.
Women are often asymptomatic, with only about 15% of patients seeking medical attention.
Symptoms of the disease in women:
- Profuse purulent or mucopurulent discharge from the urethra, worse in the morning after sleep.
- Inflammatory changes in the vestibule of the vagina in the form of redness, swelling and soreness of the mucosa.
- Itching and burning in the urethra, which increases, as a rule, at the beginning of the act of urination or during sexual intercourse.
- The temperature rises to 38 degrees.
When do women show signs of gonorrhea?
It should be noted that the asymptomatic course of the disease does not reduce the likelihood of all possible complications. Skin lesions caused by gonococci are very rare. This is due to the fact that for the occurrence of the disease, the pathogen must get on the skin in an active state, and gonococci, as a rule, die very quickly in the environment. If infection nevertheless occurs, the infection penetrates through damage to the skin and causes the development of inflammatory reactions at the site of the pathogen. This is manifested by the formation of small ulcers withhyperemic edges. Similar defects are located in the frenulum of the penis and in the pubic region and on the inner surfaces of the thighs.
Methods of diagnosing the disease
Gonorrhea is fairly easy to diagnose. To do this, it is enough to ask the patient in detail about the period of onset of symptoms. If gonorrhea is suspected, the patient and his sexual partner should be examined and pass a series of laboratory tests.
Diagnosis of this disease includes:
- Smear for gonorrhea.
- Methods of provoking gonorrhea.
- Sowing.
- Polymerase chain reaction.
- Instrumental methods.
Signs of gonorrhea (photo can be found in open sources) can only be recognized by a competent specialist.
Smears for gonorrhea
This diagnostic method is considered the most reliable way to detect gonococcal infection. The essence of such a study is that a biomaterial is taken from the patient, which presumably contains gonococci. They can be discharge from the vagina, urethra, rectum, plaque from the nasopharyngeal mucosa, etc. The resulting material is transferred to a special glass and stained with a special dye that penetrates into the structures of infectious agents and stains them, as a result of which they are easily detected under a microscope. This method is effective only in the presence of an acute form of gonorrhea, when the pathogen is released from the urethra along with pus. In the chronic form of the disease, isolate gonococci usingconventional smears are not always possible. The first signs of gonorrhea in the photo can not be seen.
Gonorrhea provocation method
A similar method is used in cases where it was not possible to identify gonococcus with the help of bacterioscopic studies. The essence of the provocative method is that it helps to stimulate the release of gonococcus, as a result of which the probability of determining the presence of an infection during the subsequent sampling of the biomaterial increases significantly. The essence of such a provocation is that the patient is injected intramuscularly with an inactivated gonococcal vaccine, which contains inactive gonococci in which antibodies have been preserved. These cells stimulate the immune system, contributing to the active absorption of gonococcus by neutrophils and their excretion with pus.
Sowing for gonorrhea
A bacteriological study of this nature is included in the list of mandatory tests for suspected gonococcal infection. The essence of such a study is that the biomaterial is transferred to a special nutrient medium on which the gonococcus grows best. With such a seeding, even a small amount of infectious agents begins to actively multiply, resulting in the formation of gonococcal colonies on a nutrient medium. This diagnostic method allows you to confirm the diagnosis, as well as determine the type of pathogen in order to establish antibacterial agents to which this species is most sensitive.
Instrumental methods for determining gonococcal infection
Such techniques include:
- Ureteroscopy.
- Colposcopy.
- Cervicoscopy.
Consequences of gonorrhea
Despite the fact that this infectious disease is not very dangerous for the human body, if left untreated, it can cause a number of unpleasant consequences, which will be much more difficult to cure. The consequences of gonorrhea include:
- The defeat of the female organs, which contributes to the development of infertility.
- Ectopic pregnancy.
- Increased risk of AIDS.
- Chronic urethritis.
- Pain in the pelvic area.
- Pain during intercourse.
- Pregnant women are at times more likely to have a miscarriage.
- Risk of developing malignant tumors.
- Prostatitis and impotence.
- Diseases of other organs - heart, liver, kidneys (when gonococcus spreads through the blood).
Gonorrhea treatment
This infectious disease is very easy to treat even in cases of severe disease. Doctors urge not to try to cure this disease on their own, since such actions are often fraught with the transition of the infection to a chronic form. It should be noted that when gonococcus is detected, all sexual partners who have had contact with the patient for two months are treated.
Treatment of this pathology involves the use of antibacterial drugs. In recent years, gonococcal infection has acquiredresistance to antibacterial agents of the penicillin series, and in this regard, at the present stage, patients are prescribed other groups of such medicines. In acute gonorrhea, it is enough to use etiotropic therapy, which affects the cause of the disease, and with the development of a chronic, latent form of gonorrhea, patients are prescribed complex therapy after determining the sensitivity of the infectious agent to antibiotics.
In mixed forms of the disease, the main treatment can be combined with immunotherapy and local procedures.
We looked at the first signs of gonorrhea and learned everything you need to recognize the occurrence of this disease.
