Article Medically Reviewed By:
Gale Burstein, MD, MPH
Erie County Department of Health Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo Buffalo, NY
Overview
What Is It?
Gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted disease (STD), second only to chlamydia as the most frequently reported STD in the United States. Untreated, it can cause infertility.
Gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted disease (STD), second only to chlamydia as the most frequently reported STD in the United States. Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, also called the gonococcus. Untreated gonorrhea can cause infertility, especially in women. If you are under the age of 25 and sexually active, you should get tested annually for this disease. If you are pregnant, you should be tested early in your pregnancy for the disease.
Gonorrhea rose to epidemic proportions in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Fortunately, this widespread STD has gradually declined substantially since a national control program was instituted in 1975. However, gonorrhea rates have not decreased in this decade and rates in the United States remain higher than in any other industrialized country. In 2006, 358,366 cases of gonorrhea were reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; however, about 700,000 cases are believed to occur annually. Rates of infection are higher among young people, females, and African Americans, particularly those in urban areas.
Gonorrhea is spread during sexual intercourse, whether it is vaginal, oral or anal. Even without anal sex, women can sometimes become infected in the rectum as a result of contamination of the anal area with vaginal fluids. Although less common, gonorrhea can be transmitted by oral sex. As with most STDs, infection is transmitted more readily from men to women than from women to men. Gonorrhea can also be transmitted between male partners through sexual contact; indeed, the rates of gonorrhea are at least 10 times higher in men who have sex with men than in women or heterosexual men. All men who have sex with men should be screened for STDs, including gonorrhea, at least annually.
For women, the most common site of initial infection is the cervix (cervicitis) and the urethra (urethritis). Without treatment, the bacteria can spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes. The resulting infection is called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID can result in scarring of the fallopian tubes, causing blockage that can result in infertility or ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, sometimes a life-threatening condition, and chronic pelvic pain. In men, the most common site of infection is the urethra, and rectal infection is common in men who have anal sex with men or women. Both men and women may get gonorrhea infections of the throat from oral sex. Although uncommon, in both men and women, untreated gonorrhea can lead to serious systemic infections, including disseminated gonococcal infection in the joints, skin, heart or blood.
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