Gonorrhoea is a common sexually transmitted infection in Singapore. It causes discharge, burning during urination, and other symptoms. It’s treatable.
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Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection (STIs) caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In Singapore, gonorrhoea is among the most common STIs. It’s transmitted very easily, especially by an infected man to his partner, although women can also transmit gonorrhoea easily. However, the bacteria can’t survive for very long outside of a human body, so they can’t be transmitted on objects such as towels or toilet seats.
Symptoms
Gonorrhoea commonly has no symptoms, with women being more likely to be asymptomatic than men. When there are symptoms, they tend to be those that people classically associate with a sexually transmitted disease. There is often discharge from the penis or vagina, burning with urination, swelling or redness of the genitals, pelvic pain, and sometimes fever.
Whether it’s symptomatic or not, gonorrhoea can progress to the more severe forms of the disease. These include pelvic inflammatory disease in women and epididymitis in men. In these diseases, the bacteria spread into the reproductive organs, and can cause scarring that leads to infertility. Even after the infection is cured, the infertility is often permanent. In some cases, the bacteria spread even further than that, infecting other parts of the body including the skin, joints, and nervous system. This causes very serious disease and can be disabling or fatal. Early and appropriate treatment of gonorrhoea avoids these potentially devastating consequences.
Pregnant women can also pass the infection to their babies during birth, leading to a host of serious problems, including blindness. This is why pregnant women are screened for gonorrhoea in Singapore, and are treated if they test positive.
Testing
The symptoms of gonorrhoea are very similar to those of chlamydia, which is another sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria. Doctors usually can’t tell these two infections apart based on the symptoms; testing is required.
When someone is having symptoms, the typical test is a swab of the discharge; if there isn’t enough discharge present, then a swab is taken of the vagina or the urethra (inside the penis). The swab is sent to the laboratory for analysis. This test takes a few days to get results, but is the most accurate type of testing.
For more rapid results, or for screening in people without symptoms of gonorrhoea, a urine test can be used. Those who should be screened include all pregnant women regardless of their marital status, and adults or teens who are sexually active with new or multiple partners, who should be screened once a year.
Treatment
Antibiotics are typically effective at treating gonorrhoea. Typically, more than one antibiotic is used at a time, because this is the most effective way to ensure the bacteria are all eradicated. It also helps to prevent antibiotic resistance, in which the bacteria gain the ability to live through the antibiotic treatment; unfortunately, this is still increasing in frequency. If your infection turns out to be resistant, then you’ll need to consult your doctor again to get different treatment.
While you’re being treated for gonorrhoea, your partner also needs to be treated, even if he or she is asymptomatic. This prevents partners from passing gonorrhoea back and forth to each other. It also prevents your partner from experiencing health consequences later, which can occur from an untreated gonorrhoea infection. If you’ve had more than one partner in recent weeks, then all of the partners need to be treated for their protection as well as for the protection of their new partners.
References
Gonorrhoea at Shim Clinic, Singapore