What Causes Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are sexually transmitted diseases that affect both women and men. They are transmitted by having oral, anal, or vaginal sex with a person who already has the disease.
Both STDs are caused by a bacterial infection that affects the mucous membranes, which are moist, soft tissues not covered by our outer layer of skin.
- Chlamydia is caused by the bacteria, chlamydia trachomatis, and can be found in the vagina, cervix, urethra, and rectum as well as the throat or eyes .
- Gonorrhea, also called the clap or the drip, is caused by the bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Like chlamydia, gonorrhea bacteria can grow and infect women in the cervix, uterus, or fallopian tubes and in men, in the urethra. It can also infect the anus, mouth, and throat.
The infection is spread through semen and vaginal fluids, but the transmission of the disease is not dependent on ejaculation. While the infection comes from these fluids, it can infect the eyes and throat in addition to the vagina, cervix, penis, urethra, and anus.
However, since these fluids are required to transmit the bacteria, you cannot get either STD through casual contact. For example, it is not possible to get chlamydia or gonorrhea from holding hands, hugging, sneezing, sitting on a toilet, or sharing food. It is very unlikely to get chlamydia or gonorrhea from kissing, even kissing someone with the infection in their throat.
Read: Why is Gonorrhea Called the Clap?
In Both Males And Females
Complications that may be seen in anyone include:
- Other STIs. Chlamydia and gonorrhea both make you more susceptible to other STIs, including human immunodeficiency virus . Having chlamydia can also increase your risk of developing gonorrhea, and vice versa.
- Reactive arthritis . Also called Reiters syndrome, this condition results from an infection in your urinary tract or intestines. Symptoms of this condition cause pain, swelling, or tightness in your joints and eyes, and a variety of other symptoms.
- Infertility. Damage to reproductive organs or to sperm can make it more challenging or, in some cases, impossible to become pregnant or to impregnate your partner.
Test Accurately Ids People Whose Gonorrhea Can Be Cured With Simple Oral Antibiotic
Wikimedia Commons
Using a pill instead of a shot would also make it easier and faster to treat sex partners of patients with gonorrhea, said UCLAs Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, the studys lead author.
A test designed by UCLA researchers can pinpoint which people with gonorrhea will respond successfully to the inexpensive oral antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which had previously been sidelined over concerns the bacterium that causes the infection was becoming resistant to it.
In research published in the peer-reviewed journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, a UCLA-led team found that of 106 subjects the test identified as having a strain of gonorrhea called wild-type gyrA serine, all were cured with a single dose of oral ciprofloxacin. Though the test has been available for three years, this is the first time it has been systematically studied in humans.
The new test gives doctors more choices to treat the sexually transmitted infection and could help slow down the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, the studys lead author and a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Using a pill instead of a shot would also make it easier and faster to treat sex partners of patients with gonorrhea, he added.
Ciprofloxacin was used to treat gonorrhea until 2007, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending its use after gonococcal infections developed resistance to the drug.
Read Also: Why Do I Still Have Chlamydia After Treatment
Prevention And Management Considerations
Appropriate treatment is of paramount importance for existing gonococcal infections, but preventive measures must also be considered and discussed with the patient. Obtaining an accurate sexual history from the patient is vital. Although it is sometimes uncomfortable to do so, the healthcare provider and the patient must have a frank discussion about the patients sexual behavior.11 The CDC emphasizes the use of a sexually transmitted infection and HIV risk assessment in counseling high-risk patients. This may be accomplished by use of the Five Ps, which are detailed, open-ended questions designed to elicit more information about a patients sexual partners, sexual practices, pregnancy prevention, STI protection, and past history of STIs.1 The Five Ps method fosters an open conversation between the healthcare provider and patient for a better understanding of the patients risk profile. After risk assessment, individualized counseling based on responses may be undertaken.
Because males with a gonococcal infection often are asymptomatic, they may remain undiagnosed for an extended period of time, which makes prevention a key priority in high-risk male populations. Consistent use of male condoms should be recommended to all patients.1
How Do I Know If I Have An Sti
Dont wait until you show symptoms, as you might never get any. If youve had unprotected sex then its important to get tested to make sure that you dont have an STI. Especially because infections like chlamydia and gonorrhea can be symptomless, you run the risk of infecting your partner, or any future partner.
You can visit a sexual health clinic to get tested where they will ask you questions about your sexual history before examining you. The tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea involve giving a urine sample and possibly a swab test from the vagina. If you prefer, you can order a test kit online to do at home.
If you test positive for one, or think that you have symptoms of one, then its advisable to get tested for all common STIs. It is possible to have multiple sexually transmitted infections.
Recommended Reading: At Home Chlamydia Test In Stores
Antibiotics For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Chlamydia is a typical STD that can contaminate both males and females. It can cause major, irreversible damages to a ladys reproductive system. Antibiotics For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
This can make it tough or impossible for her to get pregnant in the future. Chlamydia can also cause a possibly deadly ectopic pregnancy a pregnancy that happens outside the womb.
Symptoms In Men And Those With A Penis
A person with a penis may not develop noticeable symptoms for several weeks. Some men may never develop symptoms.
Typically, symptoms begin to show a week after transmission. The first noticeable symptom in men is often a burning or painful sensation during urination.
As it progresses, other symptoms may include:
In rare instances, gonorrhea can continue to cause damage to the body, specifically the urethra and testicles. The condition will stay in the body for a few weeks after the symptoms have been treated.
Pain may also spread to the rectum.
Don’t Miss: Free Chlamydia Treatment By Post
What Is The Difference Between Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Both STIs are caused by bacteria and can cause similar symptoms. Gonorrhea is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria and Chlamydia trachomatis is the bacteria which causes chlamydia. Chlamydia is more common and is less likely to produce symptoms, especially in women.
-
Lower abdominal or pelvic pain
-
Pain or bleeding during sex
-
Bleeding between periods
-
Burning or itching of the urethra
-
Pain in the testicles
70% of women and 50% of men wont experience any symptoms.
-
An unusual discharge which might be yellow or green
-
Pain or a burning sensation while you pee
-
Bleeding between periods or after sex
-
Lower abdominal pain
-
Inflamed foreskin
-
Tender or sore testicles
10% of men and 50% of women dont show any symptoms of the infection.
For both chlamydia and gonorrhea symptoms will usually arise within 2 weeks of having transmitted the infection. It is possible for symptoms not to show up for months though. If youre at all worried that you might have an STI then always get tested.
Chlamydia Signs In Females Antibiotics For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Chlamydia is often called the silent infection. Thats due to the fact that people with chlamydia may not experience signs and symptoms in any way.
If a lady agreements the STI, it may take several weeks prior to any type of signs appear.
A few of one of the most usual symptoms of chlamydia in ladies include:
- agonizing sexual intercourse
- discomfort in the reduced abdomen
- inflammation of the cervix
- bleeding in between durations
In some women, the infection can spread to the fallopian tubes, which may cause a problem called pelvic inflammatory illness .
Don’t Miss: How Can You Get Tested For Chlamydia
Complications From Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
Because these two diseases often have no symptoms, some people go untreated.
Even with those who have symptoms, stigma, access, or other reasons get in the way of getting medical attention.
Not receiving prompt and proper treatment can create serious health problems.
For women, chlamydia and gonorrhea that goes untreated can spread through your uterus to your fallopian tubes.
Fallopian tubes connect the ovaries to the uterus and transport fertilized eggs during pregnancy. If untreated bacteria that cause gonorrhea and chlamydia spread to this area, the result is pelvic inflammatory disease , affecting around 5% of women in the US.
Pelvic inflammatory disease, similar to chlamydia and gonorrhea, can have no symptoms or just some pelvic or abdominal pain initially.
Unfortunately, PID can do permanent damage to a womens reproductive system, including:
For men, gonorrhea and chlamydia can also lead to serious health problems.
It is uncommon for either to cause infertility in men, but sometimes the infection can spread past the penis causing fever or pain.
One difference is that chlamydia can also spread to the urethra, causing Non-Gonococcal urethritis, which is an infection of the tube that carries urine resulting in inflammation, pain, and fever.
This cannot be caused by the bacteria that causes gonorrhea. However, for both diseases, it is possible for either to cause:
For both women and men, chlamydia and gonorrhea can develop into a form of arthritis:
Just How Is Chlamydia Spread Antibiotics For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
You can get chlamydia by having genital, rectal, or foreplay with a person who has chlamydia.
If your sex partner is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not have an orgasm.
If youve had chlamydia and also were dealt with in the past, you can still obtain contaminated once more. This can occur if you have unprotected sex with somebody that has chlamydia.
If you are expectant, you can give chlamydia to your baby throughout giving birth.
You May Like: Everything I Need To Know About Chlamydia
Treatments For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Since both STDs are caused by a bacterial infection, the treatment is a regimen of oral antibiotics.
Some strains of gonorrhea in the US have become antibiotic resistant, sometimes called super gonorrhea. Therefore, a medical physician will decide on the best course of antibiotics.
The most commonly recommended antibiotics for both chlamydia and gonorrhea are:
The infection should clear after one to two weeks.
You should never stop taking antibiotics until the recommended course is finished, even if you think the infection cleared or you are feeling better.
If you do not finish the antibiotics, the infection can come back and be resistant to the antibiotics you were taking.
Additionally, since antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are already more common, if your symptoms continue after a few days of taking antibiotics, consult your doctor. They may switch you to a different strain of antibiotics.
Some people report home remedies for chlamydia and gonorrhea easing their symptoms, but the only effective treatment for both STDs are antibiotics.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia are curable by taking the appropriate medication as directed however, repeat infections are common.
You and your sexual partner should always be tested after three months of completing treatment, especially if you are unsure whether your partner received treatment.
How Is Chlamydia And Trichomoniasis And Gonorrhea Treated
The recommended treatment is an injection of one antibiotic followed by a single pill of another antibiotic. If the injection is not available, you can take two types of antibiotic pills. This treatment also is effective against chlamydia. Your sex partners also need to be tested for gonorrhea and treated.
Recommended Reading: How You Get Rid Of Chlamydia
How Are Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Treated
Both chlamydia and gonorrhea are treated with an antibiotic called azithromycin. Youll usually be given a 1000mg dose in four tablets to be taken all at once. The infection/s will take a week to fully clear and you should avoid having sex during this time and until your partner has been tested and treated too. Using condoms will help to protect you from either transmitting or spreading an STI.
What Can Be Done To Address The Problem
Klausner says a three-way approach is needed:
- Control the spread of new infections through prevention, screening, and treatment. However, there is much less funding for such efforts. The CDC says that more than half of state and local STD programs have seen budget cuts in years. âThe money taken out of budgets absolutely correlates with the increases in cases of STDs that weâre seeing,â Englund says.
- Develop new antibiotics. Thereâs good news here: A new antibiotic now being tested has shown promising results in recent trials. When and if it will be effective and enter the market is unknown.
- Develop tests to identify the best treatments. Klausnerâs lab has developed a test, now in use at UCLA Health System, that can tell physicians which antibiotic a particular case of gonorrhea will respond to. This has allowed them to successfully treat many cases of gonorrhea with older, less expensive antibiotics.
Jeffrey Klausner, MD, professor of preventive medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Kristin Englund, MD, Cleveland Clinic.
World Health Organization: âGrowing antibiotic resistance forces updates to recommended treatment for sexually transmitted infections.â
Read Also: How Do You Know If You Get Rid Of Chlamydia
Women Problems Of Without Treatment Chlamydia
Some females develop PID, an infection that can damage the womb, cervix, as well as ovaries. PID is an unpleasant disease that usually calls for hospital therapy.
Ladies can likewise come to be infertile if chlamydia is left untreated because the fallopian tubes may end up being scarred.
Expectant women with the infection can pass the bacteria to their children during birth, which can trigger eye infections and also pneumonia in newborns. Antibiotics For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
What Measures Can I Take To Prevent These Conditions
The only way that you can completely prevent yourself from catching chlamydia, gonorrhea, or another STI is by abstaining from sexual activity.
But there are also plenty of ways you can reduce your risk of contracting or transmitting these infections:
You May Like: How Long Does It Take To Cure Chlamydia
Genotypic Test Detects Resistance Mutation
In the study, Klausner and colleagues from other US universities and public health departments used a genotypic polymerase chain reaction test to screen patients with gonorrhea infections for the presence of genetic mutation in the gyrase subunit A enzyme. The mutation renders the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which was the recommended treatment for gonorrhea until 2007, ineffective. If the Neisseria gonorrhoeae samples from the patients didn’t contain the single point mutation in the gyrA gene, that would be an indication that their infection could be treated with ciprofloxacin.
“We know that 70 to 80 percent of gonococcal infections in the United States are actually susceptible to cipro, but we never had a test that could tell in that individual patient if their infection is amenable to ciprofloxacin treatment,” said Klausner, an STD expert who helped develop the genotypic test.
Klausner had noticed that N gonorrhoeae isolates with the altered gene were resistant to ciprofloxacin when he worked at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
“Based on that discovery of the association with this molecular marker, or altered gene, I thought we could develop a test that would then be able to predict resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae based on alteration of this gene,” he said.
Dosage Of Ciprofloxacin For Gonorrhea
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
HealthTap doctors are based in the U.S., board certified, and available by text or video.
Read Also: How Fast Can Symptoms Of Chlamydia Show
What Is The Treatment For Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea can be cured with the right treatment. CDC recommends a single dose of 500 mg of intramuscular ceftriaxone. Alternative regimens are available when ceftriaxone cannot be used to treat urogenital or rectal gonorrhea. Although medication will stop the infection, it will not repair any permanent damage done by the disease. Antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhea is of increasing concern, and successful treatment of gonorrhea is becoming more difficult. A test-of-cure follow-up testing to be sure the infection was treated successfully is not needed for genital and rectal infections however, if a persons symptoms continue for more than a few days after receiving treatment, he or she should return to a health care provider to be reevaluated. A test-of-cure is needed 7-14 days after treatment for people who are treated for a throat infection. Because re-infection is common, men and women with gonorrhea should be retested three months after treatment of the initial infection, regardless of whether they believe that their sex partners were successfully treated.