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SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE:
Chlamydia - Gonorrhea - Herpes - HPV & Genital Warts - Syphillis - Trichomonoiasis - HIV/AIDS - Prevention

Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is caused by a type of bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It easily grows in the mucous membranes of the body and other warm moist places. The female reproductive tract and the urethra of both men and women are the most common places infected, but not the only ones. There are cases of eye infections caused by the bacteria. The number of cases is growing and is now estimated to be 700,000 new infections each year.

Symptoms
Most people will have some symptoms when they get infected. The first symptoms of gonorrhea tend to appear 2 to 5 days after exposure, but it can take as long as 30 days. For men, they include a burning sensation when urinating and a yellowish white discharge. Sometimes there will also be swollen and painful testicles. Women tend to have much milder symptoms and some will have none at all. Some symptoms for women can be mistaken for a bladder infection. Symptoms can however be much the same as for men, a burning sensation on urination or a yellowish vaginal discharge. Gonorrhea in women can easily develop into pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) (Read about "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease") and result in sterility in both men and women. A person with gonorrhea is also more at risk for other diseases including AIDS. (Read about "AIDS")

Diagnosis & Treatment
Diagnosis is done with a number of tests. A urine sample can be used to detect it if the urethra is infected. Samples can also be taken from suspected areas such as the cervix or throat to test for the bacteria. Treatment for gonorrhea is a course of antibiotics. At one point penicillin was the drug of choice. That is no longer so; many strains of gonorrhea have become resistant.