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Back to Infectious Diseases
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhoea (USA spelling: gonorrhea, slang term "the clap") is a
curable sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a bacterium
called
Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These bacteria can infect the genital
tract, the mouth, and the rectum. In women, the opening to the uterus,
the cervix, is the first place of infection.
The disease however can spread into the uterus and Fallopian tubes,
resulting in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID affects more than
1 million women in the United States every year and can cause
infertility in as many as 10 percent of infected women and tubal (ectopic)
pregnancy.
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In 2000, 358,995 cases of gonorrhea were reported to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the United States,
approximately 75 percent of all reported cases of gonorrhea is found
in younger persons aged 15 to 29 years. The highest rates of infection
are usually found in 15- to 19-year old women and 20- to 24-year-old
men. Health economists estimate that the annual cost of gonorrhea and
its complications is close to $1.1 billion.
Gonorrhea spreads during sexual intercourse. Infected women also can
pass gonorrhea to their newborn infants during delivery, causing eye
infections in their babies. This complication is rare because newborn
babies receive eye medicine to prevent infection. When the infection
occurs in the genital tract, mouth, or rectum of a child, it is due
most commonly to sexual abuse.
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