Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that is transmitted primarily through vaginal and anal intercourse or through oral sex. The faster you receive treatment, the less likely you are to transfer gonorrhea to someone else. Without treatment of gonorrhea, you may find it difficult to get pregnant, or difficult to make someone else pregnant.
Gonorrhea is caused by a bacterium. The bacterium can be found in the vagina, urethra, rectum, pharynx, and eyes.
Symptoms of gonorrhea
You may have gonorrhea without knowing it, as the disease often does not produce any symptoms. The most common is that you get one or more of the following symptoms of gonorrhea
- burning when you pee
- movements of the penis or vagina
- flows from the anal opening
- spotting
- pain in the scrotum
- red and swollen eyes if you have received semen or slit secretions there.
More unusual symptoms are that you get
- fever
- pain or swelling in a large joint, such as the knee or ankle
- pain in the lower abdomen.
Gonorrhea in the throat usually does not cause any symptoms.
If you get symptoms, they usually come within a week of being infected, but the symptoms may come later as well.
When should I seek care?
Test yourself as soon as possible if you think you have been infected with gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea is included in the Infection Protection Act. That means you have to test yourself if you think you have gonorrhea.
You pay nothing, neither for the examination nor for any treatment.
Contact a health center, skin and genital, gynecological or youth clinic.
You can also go to an STI or STD reception. They specialize in sexually transmitted diseases. STD is an abbreviation of sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted diseases. STI is an abbreviation of sexually transmitted infections, sexually transmitted infections. The receptions may have different names at different locations in the country, for example
- reception for sex and cohabitation
- Sesame
- gender reception
- venereologmottagning
- infection reception.
This is how gonorrhea is transmitted
The most common way to get gonorrhea is through vaginal and anal intercourse without a condom. You can also get it by having oral sex. Gonorrhea is transmitted through mucous membranes when you have sex with someone else. The disease is also transmitted via semen and slit secretions.
You can get a gonorrhea infection in your mouth or eyes if you get sperm or vagina secretions there.
Gonorrhea can be transmitted through fingers if there is semen or slit secretion on the fingers and the fingers then touch a mucous membrane. This risk is very small, as the gonorrhea bacterium dies quickly when exposed to air.
You do not get gonorrhea by grabbing or using, for example, using the same towel or toilet as someone who has gonorrhea.
Complications and sequelae
You may get inflammation of the fallopian tubes, bites or prostate if gonorrhea spreads. It may make it more difficult for you to have biological children in the future if you wish.
Inflammation of the fallopian tubes can cause scarring. This, in turn, can make it more difficult for the eggs to enter the uterus from the ovaries, and it reduces the chances of the eggs becoming fertilized. The scar can also cause an ulcer pregnancy, that is, the fertilized egg gets stuck in the fallopian tube.
The risk that it will be difficult for you to have biological children increases every time you get gonorrhea.
The risk that you also get other STDs is also greater if you have gonorrhea and have unprotected sex. This is because mucous membranes that are already infected are more susceptible to other infections.
If you get a gonorrhea infection in your eyes and do not receive treatment within a few days, you may have reduced vision.
It is unusual, but sometimes the gonorrhea bacteria can spread in the blood. Then you can get sepsis, also called blood poisoning, with symptoms such as fever and joint inflammation in one of the body’s major joints, for example in one knee. The knee can then hurt and swell. In addition, you can get small blisters, usually on the arms or legs but also hands and fingers.
Gonorrhea is included in the Infection Protection Act
Some diseases are important to track so that they are not passed on to someone else. These diseases are included in the Infection Protection Act. This means that you have to test yourself if you know or suspect you have such a disease.
If the test shows that you have gonorrhea, you must tell who or who you have had sex with for the past year.
The staff at the reception then contacts that person or persons and tells them that they must also test themselves. It is important to find and treat anyone who may have received gonorrhea so that the disease is not transmitted to more people.
Those who are contacted by the reception staff will never find out who has given the staff their name.
How can I protect myself from gonorrhea?
The condom is the best protection against gonorrhea. Use a condom if you have vaginal or anal intercourse or oral sex. It is important that the condom is intact and that it is on throughout the entire intercourse.
Remember to use a condom or lick if you share sex toys like a dildo or a vibrator with someone else. A licking patch is a thin rubber cloth that is placed over the genital or rectum opening.
Treatment of Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics. It is important that you receive treatment quickly to avoid sequelae and complications, and not to transmit the disease to others.
Serious gonorrhea infection can, for example, cause you to have a high fever and then you may need hospital care.
About one to two weeks after the end of treatment of gonorrhea, your doctor will take another test to see if you still have gonorrhea. You may be given one more control test after another week, for example, if the bacterium has been shown to be resistant to the antibiotic or if you still have symptoms of gonorrhea.
You should not have sex with anyone else during the time you are being treated for gonorrhea, as there is still a risk of transmitting the disease to others then. So you shouldn’t have sex with anyone else until you know you’re infectious.
If you live in a relationship with one or more people, it is important that they too test themselves and receive treatment immediately. It is called partner treatment and is done to prevent the infection from being pushed back and forth. By giving the treatment at the same time, any contagion can be prevented. This means that antibiotics are given whether they have gonorrhea or not.
Investigations
There are various studies that can show if you have gonorrhea. How and where on the body the test is taken depends on how you have had sex. You can either pass a urine sample or a sample directly from the floats if you have one. The doctor will take a test from the inside of the eyelid if they suspect you have had an eye infection.
If the first test shows that you have gonorrhea, another test is always taken. Such a sample is taken with a thin swab from the urethra, vagina, anal or pharynx.
It may take a long time to get a response, but usually, it doesn’t take more than a couple of days. The doctor can also examine secretions from the urethra and cervix directly under a microscope. Then you can get a preliminary message at once. With the help of test answers, the doctor knows what kind of antibiotic is needed to treat gonorrhea.
Pregnancy and gonorrhea
In particular, you test yourself if you are pregnant and suspect you may have gonorrhea. Gonorrhea can be transmitted to the baby during childbirth if you have an infection that has not been treated. The infection is not transmitted if you receive treatment on time.
If the infection is transmitted to the child at birth, they may have an eye infection that appears within a week. The eye infection heals and does not cause sequelae if the child is treated with antibiotics.