Gonorrhea as a Communicable Disease, symptoms, transmission, Demographics, and Treatment Plan

Communicable Diseases

Communicable diseases are known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases. These are the diseases that may take place due to numerous causes such as infection, presence, and growth of the pathogen or biological agents in an individual. Furthermore, communicable diseases spread from one person to another through a variety of ways such as breathing, coughing, contact with blood or bodily fluids, sexual intercourse and fecal/oral transmission. The prevention of communicable diseases is necessary to bring health and wellness in society, according to statistics, the prevalence rate of communicable disease is increasing all across the world (AMELI, 2015). Gonorrhea is one of the sexually transmitted infections that can affect both men and women because this infection may occur in the genitals, rectum, and throat. It is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Signs and Symptoms of Gonorrhea

There are numerous symptoms of Gonorrhea, however, the symptoms of gonorrhea are different in men and women. As far as men’s symptoms are concerned,  men may develop symptoms like inflammation of the penile urethra, burning sensation while urinating, and discharge from the penis. On the other hand, women may have symptoms such as vaginal discharge, pain in lower abdomen, pain with sexual intercourse, and inflammation of the uterine cervix. In general, both men and women suffer from fatigue or feeling or tiredness. Rarely, gonorrhea may lead to skin lesions, joint infection, endocarditis, and prostate cancer. However, one more thing is imperative to understand regarding the symptoms of Gonorrhea that it may be presented as asymptomatic. Therefore, a patient should take it seriously and consultation with a doctor is the best option to obtain expert advise (Piszczek, St. Jean & Khaliq, 2015).

Mode of Transmission

Gonorrhea can spread through sexual intercourse with an infected person through vaginal, oral or anal sex. It is transmitted by contact with exudates from mucous membranes of the infected people. Also, it can be transmitted through mother to child during pregnancy or during childbirth. The baby can develop gonococcal conjunctivitis if they had contact with the mother’s infected canal. It can also spread through contaminated objects such as body fluid from infected persons. In addition, it is possible that once a person got infected by Gonorrhea, he or she is more likely to infected again.

Complications and Treatment

Gonorrhea encompasses numerous complications if it is left untreated, then this infection can spread into the uterus and fallopian tubes that cause pelvic inflammatory disease resulting in scarring of the tubes. Furthermore, it may lead to complications in pregnancy and infertility. In men, gonorrhea can cause epididymitis that becomes a source of inflammation around the tubes in the testicles can carry semen. Apart from this, gonorrhea can also cause other potential complications such as infection of skin, joints, and eyes. Antibiotics can be used to treat gonorrhea. Injectable ceftriaxone is one of the most effective antibiotics given in combination with azithromycin or doxycycline. Infected eyes may be treated with proper personal hygiene and medications. Partners should use condoms and other precautions in order to prevent spreading the infection.

Demographic of prevalence

In the US, gonorrhea is the second most common STD’s, however, chlamydia remains the top leading cause of STD’s. In 2017, 555,608 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the US, and with the passage of time, the rate of cases are increasing because of unawareness and unsafe sexual practices. Comparatively, the rate of gonorrhea is higher in males approximately 19.3% whereas in females it is 17.8%. According to the CDC, at least 2 million people in the US get infected with bacteria and at least 23,000 die each year (CDC, 2016).

A treatment plan to Remove Gonorrhea

There are two kinds of treatment processes to get rid of Gonorrhea infection, one is pharmacological treatment process, another is a non-pharmacological treatment process. Every patient must give priority to pharmacological treatment because it is a sensitive issue and it can develop numerous other health problems if left untreated. Therefore, if any symptom takes place which I have discussed above, immediately you should consult with any credible Urologist because a specialist provides an accurate treatment through proper diagnosis. As a result, the considerable option is prescribed treatment of specialist instead of self-medication, because this infection cannot be treated without having proper antibiotics (Suay-García, Pérez-Gracia, 2018). However, if symptoms are not chronic then here I want to mention some non-pharmacological options to treat Gonorrhea which are as follows.

·         Coconut oil is one of the best options to treat Gonorrhea naturally because this oil is naturally anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral. Thereby, this oil can help in reducing the risks of Gonorrhea.

·         Garlic is also an effective natural remedy to treat Gonorrhea because it contains antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties. Furthermore, it is an immune boosting herb thereby, to treat Gonorrhea garlic should be taken daily.

References

AMELI, J. (2015). Communicable Diseases and Outbreak Control. Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine, 15(1), 20-26. doi: https://doi.org/10.5505/1304.7361.2015.19970

CDC. (2016). Gonorrhea - 2016 STD Surveillance Report. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats16/Gonorrhea.htm

Hill, S., Masters, T., & Wachter, J. (2016). Gonorrhea – an evolving disease of the new millennium. Microbial Cell, 3(9), 371-389. doi: 10.15698/mic2016.09.524

Piszczek, J., St. Jean, R., & Khaliq, Y. (2015). Gonorrhea. Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue Des Pharmaciens Du Canada, 148(2), 82-89. doi: 10.1177/1715163515570111

Suay-García, Pérez-Gracia, B. (2018). Future Prospects for Neisseria gonorrhoeae Treatment. MDPI Journal, 07(02), 49. doi: doi: 10.3390/antibiotics7020049