Understanding Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a STD that many people have heard of but are unaware of exactly what it is. Gonorrhea is a disease that can be transmitted from person to person either during sex or from a mother to her baby. A person can become infected during vaginal, oral or anal sex. Men and women are equally susceptible to the disease.

Some interesting statistics related to Gonorrhea include:

* In the United States it’s estimated that 1 in every 339 people have Gonorrhea.

* Everyday in the United States 2,000 people become infected with Gonorrhea.

* Approximately 400,000 people in the United States have Gonorrhea and haven’t yet been diagnosed and likely aren’t aware they have it.

* The worldwide cost for treating Gonorrhea is $1 billion dollars a year.

* It’s not uncommon for a person to have Gonorrhea and Chlamydia at the same time.

* Men are 1.5 times more likely to develop Gonorrhea.

* Gonorrhea is more likely to be found in individuals under the age of 30 who have had several sexual partners.

The bacteria that are at the root of Gonorrhea live in the tissues of the mouth, the genital tract and the rectum. In women the disease can spread into the reproductive organs. One of the complications of this is that a woman can develop pelvic inflammatory disease which comes with a whole host of problems including the chance of infertility if untreated.

Some individuals believe that if they have been treated for Gonorrhea in the past that they cannot be infected again. This isn’t true, in fact as soon as you are done treatment you can susceptible to Gonorrhea again.

If one of your recent sexual partners has been diagnosed you are advised to seek testing as well. This is relevant even if you have no noticeable symptoms of the disease.

As with most STDs the most important consideration with Gonorrhea needs to be prevention. Although no safe sex technique is 100% effective, the use of condoms during every sexual encounter is very important and should be considered mandatory.

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