Gonorrhea, also called blenorrhage, gonorrhea and gonococcal urethritis, is a very common sexually transmitted infectious disease. More than 700,000 people in the United States get gonorrhea every year. Gonorrhea germs are found in the mucous membranes of the body (the vagina, penis, throat and rectum), so the infection is contracted by contact with these areas. If a pregnant woman has gonorrhea, you are likely to experience complications and transmit the infection to your baby when he passes through the birth during birth.
Gonorrhea during pregnancy
Most women with gonorrhea have no symptoms (about 80%, compared to 15% of men) and, if they do, they are mild. Even the symptoms can be so unspecific that they are confused with a vaginal infection or cystitis. Therefore, given these symptoms, tests must be performed. Gonorrhea can cause serious complications during pregnancy.
There are several laboratory tests to diagnose gonorrhea. A sample of the parts of the body that could be infected (cervix, urethra, rectum or throat) can be taken and sent to a laboratory for analysis. With a simple analysis of a urine sample, gonorrhea present in the cervix or urethra can be diagnosed.
Also the Gram stain test, which analyzes a sample from the urethra or cervix and allows the doctor to visualize the bacteria under a microscope. Urethra specimen examination is more effective in men than in women.
During pregnancy there is no danger of infection to the fetus, but when the baby is born. In addition, pregnant women with gonorrhea are more prone to certain risks: to suffer a miscarriage, to give birth to a dead baby, or to have a preterm birth.
Treating gonorrhea as soon as it is detected will reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy and at the time of giving birth to the baby, avoiding possible contagion. It is completely possible to treat and cure gonorrhea during pregnancy, following the medical indications indicated by the appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Gonorrhea infection prevention
The spread of gonorrhea can be avoided through sexual abstinence or if our sexual relations are with a person not infected by the disease. Condom use In both sexes, the probability of getting a sexually transmitted disease like this decreases significantly, provided it is used properly. The condom should be placed from the beginning to the end of the sexual act and should be used whenever sexual activity is practiced with a partner in which gonorrhea or any other sexually transmitted disease is suspected.
Gonorrhea during childbirth: effects on the baby
As we have said, gonorrhea can easily go unnoticed by the pregnant woman. And at the time of birth, this disease can be transmitted to the baby through the birth canal. In that case, gonorrhea would infect the baby's eyes, which can lead to blindness, joint infection and a life-threatening blood infection in the newborn.
For this reason, it is decided, given the risk of transmission to the baby, to administer to the newborn an ocular prophylaxis as an ointment that would prevent conjunctivitis as a routine practice, which in addition to preventing the spread of gonorrhea would act against other infections that also cause conjunctivitis .
And is that the neonatal conjunctivitisAlthough it is usually contracted by other bacteria, it can also be caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, responsible for gonorrhea. Conjunctivitis caused by gonorrhea bacteria appears 2 to 5 days after birth, or even earlier if the membranes ruptured prematurely and the infection had time to begin before delivery.
Usually, the eyelids and the white part of the eyes (conjunctiva) of the newborn become very inflamed. When the eyelid is separated, the pus outlet can be seen. If the treatment is delayed, sores may form on the cornea that permanently damage your eyesight. To identify the infectious organism, the doctor removes a sample of pus and examines it under a microscope or performs a culture.
Gonorrhea may also cause other serious illnesses in the baby. such as septic arthritis, meningitis and pneumonia, which could put children's lives at risk. If the newborn's mother is known to have gonorrhea, the child receives an injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone to prevent gonorrheal infection in the eyes and any other part of the body.
