The terminology Gonorrhea is widely known to be a venereal disease. Few people know that is can affect other parts of the body. Ideally, it is a sexual disease that passes from one person to another through sexual interaction. It may be through oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Adults are more at risk of the disease through their sexual activities.
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However, it is also common for women to pass the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria to the baby during pregnancy or at childbirth. The emergence of gonorrhea in parts of the eye is an alarming case. Failure to detect it leads to blindness, through the gradual damaging of the cornea and optical nerves.
Read More: Gonorrhea Symptoms
Analysis
The spread of the gonorrhea bacteria can cause defects in other body parts. But the optical gonorrhea is hardly through the bloodstream. The eye gets infected through contact with bacterial fluids. Mostly, it comes from touching your eyes with hands contaminated with the bacteria.
The clinical manifestations vary from one person to the other. But when you are most likely to have gonorrhea of the eye if you exhibit signs of conjunctivitis like
- Constant itching of the eyes and pain
- Stinging inflammation and redness
- The sticky yellowish liquid that tends to bind the eyelids
- Poor vision due to soreness
If the infection comes from your system, then you will have the conventional clinical signs of genital gonorrhea like
- The swelling of lymph nodes next to the ears
- Genital discharge in both men and women
- Pain, itching, and inflammation of the genitals
- Discomfort while passing urine
Testing and Treatment
The doctor will take clinical samples for laboratory analysis from the affected eyes. Other tests include fluid samples from the throat, genitals, and rectum. This is to ascertain if it is indeed gonorrhea. If the results come in affirmative, the doctor will recommend antibiotics and eye gels for a specified period. Though home testing kits are available, it is highly advisable to go for expert medical practitioners.
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Product: Gonorrhea Test
Prevention
The best way to avoid gonorrhea is to abstain from sex and STDs. Nevertheless, you may still contract it through body contact with unclean hands. If you shake hands containing the gonococcal bacteria and touch your eye, the bacteria will infect your eye. As far as you are concerned, practice safe sex and observe a high standard of hygiene afterward.
Few women show any signs of the disease during the window period. Regular screening helps in addressing the infection before spreading to other parts. Equally, men should have periodical screening to be safe. This is for those who have regular unprotected sex.
The last group is pregnant women. Many newborn babies contract the disease at the delivery time. It is suitable for expectant mothers to abstain from sex or have regular screening to deter the mother to infant transmission.
Read More: Gonorrhea Overview
References
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002511