Neisseria gonorrhea causes a disease that has been known to people since antiquity. No one knows what her name was in those distant times, but now this disease is known as gonorrhea. This infection exists next to passion, love, sudden attraction or constant search for new sensations. But regardless of how a person met her, the next person to talk to her will definitely be a doctor.
The causative agent of gonorrhea
Neisseria gonorrhea is a double rounded cells that are stained pink with aniline dyes. It has a dense three-layer wall and thread-like processes that provide it with reliable fastening inside the body.
After entering the body, Neisseria are fixed on the coda and mucous membranes or even seep through them. But the immune system does not sleep. Leukocytes and neutrophils immediately arrive at the injection site and begin to actively "eat" foreign agents. But the bacteria do not die, but on the contrary, they feel great inside the macrophages, multiply and stimulate the development of inflammation. Neutrophils that fell in an unequal battle accumulate and are released frombody in the form of pus.
Time passes, the infection spreads through the lymphatic vessels first to neighboring organs, and then throughout the body. Gonococci are extremely stable in the human body. They have something to oppose the action of drugs. Bacteria turn into the L-form, which is able to survive for a long time in an aggressive environment. But in the external environment, Neisseria do not live long. They are afraid of drying, boiling, and soap.
Routes of infection and incubation period
Neisseria gonorrhea can not manifest itself for a long time after infection, so the source of infection, as a rule, is a person with a latent course of the disease. There are several ways to get infected:
- The sexual route is most common among the adult population. Bacteria pass to the sexual partner after unprotected contact. But the likelihood of such a scenario developing is not one hundred percent. A man has only a twenty percent chance of getting infected from a sick woman, but for the fair sex, the statistics work the other way around - 80 percent because unprotected sexual intercourse with a carrier of gonococcus will end with a visit to a venereologist.
- Contact-household way. If shared towels, washcloths, or bedding are used in the home, then in less than one percent of cases, accidental infection is possible. Bacteria live very little outside the human body.
- Vertical path. A pregnant woman with gonorrhea during childbirth can infect her baby. This will be manifested by damage to the eyes, oral mucosa or genital organs.
Asymptomatic periodReproduction of Neisseria can last from 12 hours to several days or even weeks. The longest clinically recorded period is 3 months. Such a wide range is associated with the characteristics of immunity, its reactivity and general he alth. As a rule, in men, the disease manifests itself four days after infection, and in women - after ten days. It is impossible to detect an infection clinically or laboratory, but already during this period a person is dangerous for his partner.
Forms of gonorrhea
The symptoms and treatment of gonorrhea depend on how much time has passed since the infection entered the body. There are three forms of the disease:
- Fresh gonorrhea. Registered up to two months from the onset of symptoms. It can occur in acute, subacute or torpid form. The acute form is characterized by a rapid onset, the severity of clinical manifestations, a large amount of pus and the appearance of defects on the skin and mucous membranes. During the subacute form, symptoms are mild, but discomfort is still present. The torpid form is distinguished by the absence of manifestations at all.
- Chronic gonorrhea. The immune system is depleted and ceases to resist gonococcal expansion. Bacteria stay in the cells of the body for a long time and wait until the defenses are completely weakened in order to manifest themselves again. The trigger may be a cold, stress, or surgery. Symptoms in this form are mild or absent.
- Hidden gonorrhea. More common in the fair sex. Womanis a carrier of infection and its source, but the body's defenses do not react to bacteria in any way, so there are no symptoms.
Gonorrhea in men: symptoms, signs, treatment
Oddly enough, the clinical picture of female and male gonorrhea is different.
Neisseria gonorrhea in men causes acute inflammation of the mucous epithelium of the urethra. Symptoms cause severe discomfort, so such patients urgently seek medical attention. The disease is characterized by a certain combination of symptoms:
- Urethritis, manifested by the expansion of capillaries, increased blood flow and tissue edema. Pain and itching at the entry gate of infection are among the first manifestations of gonorrhea. The pain appears in the morning and the first urination causes a sharp burning pain.
- Discharge from the urethra. In addition to physiological secretions, i.e. urine, thick yellow or brown pus appears. If the process has gone very far, then a small amount of blood may also appear.
- And the last symptom inherent in any inflammatory reaction is an increase in temperature to subfebrile or febrile numbers. With the appearance of complications, fever up to 40 degrees is possible. After three days, all the symptoms of the disease gradually disappear, and the infection becomes subacute or torpid.
Symptoms in women
Neisseria gonorrhea in women does not cause pronounced symptoms of the disease. Only a tenthwomen who fall into the risk group, turns to a doctor for help or advice. Experts recommend diagnosing if a husband or partner has recent manifestations of gonorrhea.
In rare cases, the disease manifests itself as mucous or purulent discharge from the genital tract in the morning, signs of inflammation of the urethra and / or vagina with the addition of itching, burning during intercourse or urination. Against this background, body temperature may rise to subfebrile numbers.
Manifestation of the disease in newborns
Neisseria gonorrhea in children of the first month of life can affect the eyes, nasal mucosa, urethra and vagina, and also provoke the development of sepsis. This happens if the mother has a fresh form of gonorrhea at the time of delivery.
After 3-5 days after birth, children become restless, refuse food, sleep poorly. They may develop abnormal discharge from the eyes or genital tract. Since the disease in women can be asymptomatic, all newborns are given prophylaxis in the form of instillation into the eyes and nose of Albucid.
Destruction of organs outside the reproductive system
In addition to the pelvic organs in women and men, secondary screenings of the pathogen throughout the body are possible. Areas affected by gonorrhea:
- Leather. This is a rather rare complication that is possible when bacteria enter the open wound surface. An inflammatory response develops at the injection site: a small sore (up to 2 cm in diameter), painful. Typicallocalization - thighs and perineum.
- Eyes. Non-compliance with personal hygiene after going to the toilet can lead to contamination of the eye mucosa with Neisseria. This condition is called gonococcal conjunctivitis. It manifests itself in the form of redness of the eyes, bleeding, swelling and pus from the conjunctiva, photophobia and lacrimation. If the process is ignored, it may result in corneal ulcers.
- Throat and oral cavity. Most often asymptomatic. Experts note a slight reddening of the mucosa, swelling of the pharyngeal tonsils, the presence of a pale yellow coating. Symptoms of gingivitis and stomatitis may appear, but patients usually do not associate them with gonorrhea.
- The rectum. More often women get sick because of the structural features of the perineum. Manifested by constipation, false urge to defecate, itching and burning in the anus, the presence of pathological secretions such as blood and pus.
Diagnosis
Neisseria gonorrhea, or gonococcus, causes a disease whose diagnosis in the acute period is quite simple. If the doctor correctly collected an anamnesis and conducted the necessary examination, then the conclusion will not be long in coming. But according to the protocol, the venereologist must necessarily take material for bacterial research, and also ask the patient to bring his sexual partner to the next appointment.
From laboratory tests can be used:
- smear from the urethra (sometimes a provocation is necessary for the pathogen to leave the cells and appear inlumen of the urethra);
- seeding on nutrient media;
- PCR (detection of Neisseria gonorrhea DNA in blood);
Provocation can be carried out in several ways:
1. Administration of gonococcal vaccine.
2. Irrigation of the urethra with Lugol's solution.
3. Urethral bougienage.4. Eating spicy or s alty foods.
Treatment
Treatment of gonorrhea in men and women is the same. It all comes down to taking antibacterial drugs, to which this pathogen is sensitive. As a rule, these are 3-4 generation cephalosporins and protected penicillins. They can be used separately or together.
If there is no accession of another sexual infection or fungal flora, then the treatment ends there. The doctor conducts control tests two weeks after the start of therapy.
