A part of the Out in America Cities Network    Help    
Welcome to Out in America
Member Login:

Password:

Enable Auto-Login
Forgot your password?


Not a member?
JOIN NOW for Free!

Out in America > Home > Safe Sex Guide

SafeSexGuide
GONORRHEA
GONORRHEA

Also known as: GC, "Clap", VD, "Drip", Urethritis, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, PID

How You Get It (Exposure):

Gonorrhea is spread via sexual contact: specifically anal, oral or vaginal contact. You can get gonorrhea without penetration. A condom will help protect you, but most men and women don't use condoms for oral sex or during foreplay, when a lot of rubbing can occur and the discharge can seep into your anus, urethra or vagina.

Warning Signs (Symptoms):

About 15% of men who get gonorrhea in the penis do not develop symptoms. Those who do, may not see them for two to five days after infection. When gonorrhea infects your mouth, throat or anus, the diagnosis can be difficult to make. Throat and mouth infections resemble a typical "sore throat" and the pain may also be minimal or short-lived. If your doctor doesn't know you have given oral sex, he/she might not think of gonorrhea as a possible cause. If the doctor doesn't think of gonorrhea, you won't be treated. In your anus, gonorrhea might be present as an anal discharge or bloody bowel movement. You might also complain of pain, but that is less common.

For Men: In men, the most common symptom is a greenish, yellow penile discharge. Although usually profuse, you might notice only a stain on your underwear. The discharge is often accompanied by dysuria (a burning pain with urination).

For Women: In women, gonorrhea infects the vagina and quickly spreads into the uterus and tubes. Symptoms include severe lower abdominal and pelvic pain with fever and nausea. This condition is known as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Getting Checked Out (Diagnosis) / Treatment:

Gonorrhea is often diagnosed by culturing the discharge. If the discharge is minimal, a doctor might pass a tiny swab into your urethra to obtain a sample. Because the bacteria are extremely sensitive to drying and require a high concentration of carbon dioxide to grow, cultures must be performed under very strict conditions. Doctors also frequently send a swab to the laboratory for DNA analysis. This test is probably more accurate than a culture.

If you have a sore throat or bottom, be sure to tell the doctor about your sexual practices so that adequate cultures are taken. If your doctor doesn't think to culture these areas because he/she doesn't know you've had anal or oral sex, then the diagnosis won't be made and you won't be treated.

Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics. The most commonly recommended treatment is an injection of a cephalosporin class of antibiotics called ceftriaxone (the dosage is 125mg). Alternative treatments include an oral cephalosporin called cefixime in a single 400mg dose. Other effective antibiotics include: ciprofloxacin 500mg in a single dose or azithromycin in a single 1 gm dose combined with 400mg of ofloxacin.

If Left Untreated:

Sometimes vaginas develop pelvic inflammatory disease, PID (infection of the tubes). This can cause abnormal periods or low bellyache and tenderness; sometimes it causes a perihepatitis and right upper quadrant pain. Men may suffer from an infected prostate or balls, tender achy joints or fever.

If it is not treated, the acute symptoms will go away after about six months, but the disease may lead to arthritis, pericarditis (inflammation of the sac around the heart), or emphysema.

Prevention:

Because the bacteria has strict requirements for growth -- a warm, dark, moist carbon dioxide rich environment -- washing after sex with soap and water will go a long way in preventing infection. A condom will help protect you, but it must be worn for foreplay and oral sex. If you are about to have sex with a partner who has a greenish yellow discharge coming out of his/her penis or vagina, suggest he/she get tested for gonorrhea before you do the nasty. Pre-cum is usually clear but the discharge from gonorrhea isn't.

Prevalence:

With more than one million new cases reported each year (that doesn't include unreported cases that double this figure), gonorrhea is the most common STD worldwide and the most commonly reported communicable disease in the U.S.


Safe Sex Articles
General Information
SEXUAL ACTS AND RISKS
SEXUAL ACTS AND RISKS Considered Completely Safe: Mutual masturbation Today, mutual masturbation is unquestionably the preferred sex act of the health conscious, or if you are unsure of yo...
CONDOMS
CONDOMS Why you should use one: When used correctly - and used every time you have sex - latex condoms provide some protection against sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes, gonorrhea,...
DEPRESSION AND GUILT
DEPRESSION AND GUILT Unsafe Sex Among Gay Men Linked to Depression Homosexual men with long-term, low-grade depression are almost twice as likely to have had unsafe casual sex in the last six mo...
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
CHLAMYDIA

CHLAMYDIA Also known as: NGU, Nongonococcal Urethritis, UU, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Urethritis How you get it (Exposure): Unprotected sucking or fucking. It is often a sexually transmitte...

LYMPHOGRANULOMA VENEREUM

LYMPHOGRANULOMA VENEREUM (LGV) How You Get It (Exposure): LGV is transmitted in the same way as Chlamydia, through unprotected oral or anal sex or other sexual contact. Warning Signs (Symptom...

MOLLUSCUM

MOLLUSCUM How You Get It (Exposure): Molluscum spreads from one person to another during any close physical skin to skin contact. Though most often the transmition occurs during sex, the virus...

CRABS

CRABS Also known as: Pediculosis Pubis How You Get It (Exposure): Crabs are probably the easiest STD to catch. Usually they pass from one partner's pubic region to another's during close phys...

GENITAL WARTS

GENITAL WARTS Also known as: Condyloma, Venereal Warts, Anal Warts, Human Papilloma Virus, HPV How You Get It (Exposure): The human papillomavirus spreads between sexual partners during clo...

PROSTATITIS

PROSTATITIS How Do You Get It (Exposure): When bacteria from your urethra enter the prostate through a duct that connects the two, you can develop prostatitis. Putting unsterile toys or othe...

SCABIES

SCABIES Also known as: Sarcoptes scabiei How You Get It (Exposure): Although the infection can spread between partners during sex, any form of close contact is more than enough for the bug...

GONORRHEA

GONORRHEA Also known as: GC, "Clap", VD, "Drip", Urethritis, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, PID How You Get It (Exposure): Gonorrhea is spread via sexual contact: specifically anal, oral or v...

SYPHILIS

SYPHILIS Also known as: VD, Louies disease How You Get It (Exposure): Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the corkscrew shaped bacteria (spirochete) Treponema pallidum. T...

HEPATITIS A

HEPATITIS A Also known as: Infectious Hepatitis How You Get It (Exposure): Hepatitis A passes between people via a "fecal/oral" route. Rimming an infected partner can give you the virus, ...

HEPATITIS B

HEPATITIS B How You Get It (Exposure): Hepatitis B virus can be found in an infected individual’s blood, semen and other bodily fluids. You are contagious before you know you are sick and for ...

HERPES

HERPES Also known as: Cold Sores, Herpes Simplex, Genital Herpes, Oral Herpes How You Get It (Exposure): Herpes is spread between partners during sex. There are rare cases described in med...

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS How You Get It (Exposure): HIV is present in four major body fluids. They are: - VAGINAL - SEMEN - BLOOD - BREAST MILK HIV transmission is not possible without...