Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum.
Gonorrhea is spread through sexual contact with an infected person, or from a mother to a child during birth. Infected males may experience pain or burning with urination, discharge from the penis, or testicular pain. Infected females may experience burning with urination, vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding between periods, or pelvic pain. Complications in females include pelvic inflammatory disease and in males include inflammation of the epididymis. Many of those infected, however, have no symptoms. If untreated, gonorrhea can spread to joints or heart valves. Gonorrhea affects about 0.8% of women and 0.6% of men. An estimated 33 to 106 million new cases occur each year. In 2015, it caused about 700 deaths.
Diagnosis is by testing the urine, urethra in males, vagina or cervix in females. It can be diagnosed by testing a sample collected from the throat or rectum of individuals who have had oral or anal sex, respectively. Testing all women who are sexually active and less than 25 years of age each year as well as those with new sexual partners is recommended; the same recommendation applies in men who have sex with men (MSM).
Gonorrhea can be prevented with the use of condoms, having sex with only one person who is uninfected, and by not having sex. Treatment is usually with ceftriaxone by injection and azithromycin by mouth. Resistance has developed to many previously used antibiotics and higher doses of ceftriaxone are occasionally required.
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