Gonorrhea : Tests

Tests used to diagnose gonorrhea in women include: Cervical gram stain; Endocervical culture for gonorrhea. Tests used to diagnose gonorrhea in men include: Gram stain of urethral discharge; Urethral discharge culture for gonorrhea. Tests used to ...

The diagnosis of gonorrhea can be made at a public health clinic or a family physician office. First, the doctor will discuss symptoms and the patient's known contact or at-risk behavior. There are three methods available to test for the presence ...

The initial diagnosis of gonorrhea will be based on symptoms, sexual history, and at-risk behavior. One laboratory test for diagnosis involves the observation of a gram-stained sample of the discharge under a microscope. In the gram stain test, th...

During a physical examination, a health care provider studies a patient's body to determine the presence or absence of physical problems. A typical physical examination includes: Inspection (looking at the body; Palpation (feeling the body with hands; Auscultation (listening to sounds; Percussion (producing sounds.

Endocervical culture is a laboratory test that examines samples from the endocervix (opening to the uterus) to isolate and identify infection-causing organisms in the female genital tract.

Genital culture is the use of enrichment and selective media to isolate and identify organisms that cause genital infections such as urethritis, cervicitis, and salpingitis (pelvic inflammatory disease). The primary reason for a genital culture is to isolate Neisseria gonorrhoeae , the causative agent of gonorrhea. Other organisms that cause genital infections and can be cultured are Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida albicans, Neissria meningitidis, Haemophilus ducreyi, Mycoplasma hominis, and Ureaplasma urealyticum .

Sexually transmitted diseases are infections spread from person to person through sexual contact. A culture is a test in which a laboratory attempts to grow and identify the microorganism causing an infection . Laboratory culture is performed to isolate and identify the causes of several sexually transmitted infections.

Gonorrhea is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterium. The genitourinary tract is the main system that is usually affected, but gonorrhea can also spread to the rectum, the throat, and the eyes. Left untreated, gonorrhea can spread through the bloodstream and infect the brain, heart valves, joints, and the reproductive system. Exposure to an infected mother during birth may cause permanent blindness in the newborn.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae , a bacterium. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual contact (vaginal, oral, or anal). The organism can grow easily in mucous membranes of the body, including the cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes in women, and the urethra, mouth, throat, and rectum in women and men. It can also invade the conjunctiva (e.g., during childbirth). Each year approximately 650,000 persons in the United States get gonorrhea. Approximately 75 percent of gonorrhea cases are found in persons age fifteen to twenty-nine years. About 50 percent of men have some initial symptoms, typically a burning sensation when urinating and a discharge from the penis. Many infected women are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms. Initial symptoms include a painful or burning sensation when urinating and a vaginal discharge that is yellow or bloody. Untreated gonorrhea in women can develop into pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can cause infertility or increase the future risk of ectopic pregnancy. An infected pregnant woman can transmit the infection to her newborn during vaginal delivery. N. gonorrhoeae in the male or female genital tract can be diagnosed in a laboratory using a urine specimen. Many of the currently used antibiotics can successfully cure gonorrhea. Persons who engage in sexual behaviors that place them at risk of STDs should use latex or polyurethane condoms every time they have sex, limit the number of sex partners, and not go back and forth between partners. All young, sexually active, nonmonogamous persons who do not use condoms every time they have sex should consider being screened for gonorrhea yearly. Infected persons should notify all sex partners so they can receive treatment. A LLISON L. G REENSPAN J OEL R. G REENSPAN ( SEE ALSO : Sexually Transmitted Diseases )

The Gram stain test is the most extensively performed procedure in diagnostic microbiology. It is used to classify bacteria as either gram-positive or gram-negative based upon their ability to retain the crystal violet stain following decolorization. In addition, the Gram stain provides vital diagnostic information, aids in the selection of culture media, and dictates initial selection of antibiotics for treatment and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (commonly known as "the clap) caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea. See also: Disseminated gonococcemia

Gonorrhea is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease that is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae . The mucous membranes of the genital region may become inflamed without the development of any other symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they are different in men and women. In men, gonorrhea usually begins as an infection of the vessel that carries urine and sperm (urethra). In women, it will most likely infect the narrow part of the uterus (cervix). If untreated, gonorrhea can result in serious medical complications.

Sexually transmitted disease (STD) is a term used to describe more than 20 different infections that are transmitted through exchange of semen, blood, and other body fluids; or by direct contact with the affected body areas of people with STDs. Sexually transmitted diseases are also called venereal diseases.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are caused by a group of infectious microorganisms that are transmitted mainly through sexual activity. These agents represent a costly, burdensome global public health problem. STDs can cause harmful, often irreversible, clinical complications, including reproductive health problems, fetal and perinatal health problems, and cancer, and they are also linked in a causal chain of events to the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Although STDs are largely preventable through behavior modification and sound primary health care, they are under-recognized and under-appreciated as a public health problem by most healthcare providers, the general public, and healthcare policy makers. In 1997, the Institute of Medicine characterized STDs as "hidden epidemics of tremendous health and economic consequence" in the United States and advocated urgent national preventive action. An estimated 333 million curable STDs occur annually worldwide. In the United States, STDs are among the most frequently reported infectious diseases nationwide. Each year an estimated 15 million new cases of STDs occur in Americans, including nearly 4 million infections in U.S. teenagers. The annual direct and indirect costs of the principal STDs, including sexually transmitted HIV infection, and their complications are estimated at $17 billion. More than twenty-five bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and yeasts are considered sexually transmissible. Bacterial STDs include those caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea), Treponema pallidum (syphilis), Haemophilus ducreyi (chancroid), and other common sexually transmitted organisms. Chlamydia and gonorrhea cause inflammatory reactions in the host. In women, these organisms can ascend into the upper reproductive tract where pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) can cause irreparable damage to the reproductive organs and result in infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain. In its early stages, syphilis causes painless genital ulcers and other infectious lesions. Left untreated, syphilis moves through the body in stages, damaging many organs over time. Chancroid is associated with painful genital lesions. In pregnant women, acute bacterial STDs can cause potentially fatal congenital infections or perinatal complications, such as eye and lung infections in the newborn. Effective single-dose antimicrobials can cure chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and chancroid. Viral STDs include the sexually transmitted viral infections caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection), herpes simplex virus type 2 (genital herpes), and human papillomavirus (HPV infection). Initial infections with these organisms may be asymptomatic or cause only mild symptoms. Treatable but not curable, viral STDs appear to be lifelong infections. HIV is the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Herpes causes periodic outbreaks of painful genital lesions. Some strains of HPV cause genital warts, and others are important risk factors for cervical dysplasia and invasive cervical cancer. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is another acute viral illness that can be transmitted through sexual activity. Most persons who acquire HBV infection recover and have no complications, but it can sometimes become a chronic health problem. Trichomonas vaginalis (trichomoniasis) is a common protozoal STD, and Candida species (candidiasis) are sexually transmitted yeasts. Both are frequently associated with vaginal discharge.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Gonorrhea is most common among females ages 15-19 and males ages 20-24. Although most males experience symptoms, 50% of females have no symptoms. For this reason, gonorrhea in adolescent girls often goes untreated. Therefore, screening cultures for gonorrhea should be routine for all sexually active adolescents.

Viral and bacterial infections passed from one person to another through sexual contact. Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood when profound changes occur. This period of tremendous change fulfills important developmental tasks in which the adolescent develops formal operational thought, builds cognitive decision-making skills, forms a sense of self-identity, and expresses the need for autonomy and individuation from the family. Adolescence is also a time of opportunities and risk, when many health behaviors are established. Although many of these behaviors are health-promoting, some are health-compromising, resulting in increasingly high rates of adolescent morbidity and mortality. For example, initiation of sexual intercourse and experimentation with alcohol and drugs are normative adolescent behaviors. However, these behaviors often result in negative health outcomes such as the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including the fatal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As a consequence of STDs, many adolescents experience serious health problems that often alter the course of their adult lives, including infertility, difficult pregnancy, genital and cervical cancer, neonatal transmission of infections, and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The acquisition and transmission of STDs among adolescents are influenced by complex interrelationships among sociodemographic, biologic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors. For example, many STD-related risk markers (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity) correlate with more fundamental determinants of risk status (e.g., access to health care, living in communities with high prevalence of STDs) to influence adolescents' risk for STDs. Developmental factors such as pubertal timing, self-esteem, and peer affiliation may also increase their risk of exposure to STDs. An assessment of these interrelationships are critical to preventing and controlling STDs in adolescents, yet they are poorly defined and understood. Moreover, since behavior is the common means by which STDs occur, an important first step in fighting STDs is to understand the prevalence and patterns of risk behaviors as well as the psychosocial context in which these behaviors occur.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are viral and bacterial infections passed from one person to another through sexual contact.

Pelvic ultrasound is a procedure where harmless, high-frequency sound waves are projected into the abdomen. These waves reflect off of the internal structures and create shadowy black and white pictures on a display screen.

Pelvic ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to form pictures of your organs. It can help assess pain or other symptoms within your pelvis. And in pregnant women, it is used to check the health of the fetus.

Pelvic ultrasound is a procedure in which high-frequency sound waves are used to create images of the pelvic organs by projecting the sound waves into the pelvis and measuring how the sound waves reflect, or echo, back from the different tissues.