Gonococci

Gonococci are bacteria whose medical importance is that they can cause the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. Gonorrhea is transmitted through sexual intercourse and typically manifests itself as a purulent discharge from the urethra in men or from the vagina in women. This gonococcal infection can be cured with antibiotic treatment and long-term effects such as impending infertility can be prevented.

What are gonococci?

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the scientifically exact name for Gonococci, is a spherical bacterium about a thousandth of a millimeter in size that can move with the help of flagella.

Its preferred habitat are the mucous membranes of the urinary tract and the genital organs. Since the infection with gonococci, gonorrhea or colloquially known as "gonorrhea" is only transmitted through direct contact of bacteria-containing material with mucous membranes, it is one of the classic sexually transmitted diseases.

The bacteria infest the man's urethra and the woman's cervix. In the context of oral or anal sexual practices, the oral mucosa or the mucous membrane of the rectum can also be infected with gonococci.

Meaning & function

After an incubation period of a few days, counted from the time of infection Gonococci, itchy urethritis in men with painful urination and purulent discharge. This discharge typically occurs in the morning after getting up and is therefore also known as "Bonjour drops".

In women, a purulent discharge from the vagina can also occur as part of an infection of the cervix. However, the disease can also progress without pronounced symptoms. If left untreated, the symptoms usually subside after a few months. Gonorrhea usually responds well to antibiotic treatment. The antibiotic of choice has long been penicillin, one of the first antibiotics available.

In the meantime, however, there are increasing numbers of gonococcal strains that are resistant to penicillin. Therefore, the preferred therapy nowadays is the administration of other antibiotics, e.g. B. from the group of cephalosporins. In the case of an uncomplicated course of the disease, treatment for a few days is sufficient. Complicated courses can also require up to a month of therapy. When making a diagnosis, the patient should always be informed that his sexual partners should be examined and, if necessary, treated.

Since the introduction of the Infection Protection Act in 2000, the treating doctor no longer has to report cases of illness to the health department. Contagion can be prevented by using condoms during sexual intercourse. Despite the propagation of “safer sex”, gonorrhea is still an important sexually transmitted disease with around 15,000 cases per year in Germany. Often other sexually transmitted pathogens such as gonococci are spread at the same time. B. Chlamydia transmitted.

Diseases

They are feared Gonococci because of the complications that can occur with severe gonorrhea. In men, the inflammation can spread to the epididymis and prostate, which is known as epididymitis and prostatitis, respectively.

A co-infection of the fallopian tubes (salpingitis) can develop in women. These complications can lead to infertility in both sexes. The infection can also affect the eye if the eye is rubbed with the hand that was previously in contact with the genitals. In the worst case scenario, if left untreated, this can lead to blindness in the affected eye. A newborn's eye is also at risk if the mother's genital tract - and thus the birth canal - is infected. In the past, antibacterial eye drops were given to all children immediately after birth to prevent such a newborn infection with gonococci, known as gonoblenorrhea.

Since expectant mothers today are routinely checked for gonorrhea and treated if necessary, this so-called Credé prophylaxis has largely been abandoned today. The most serious complication of a gonococcal infection is a so-called gonococcal sepsis, in which the pathogen infestation is no longer limited locally to certain mucous membranes, but gonococci can be spread throughout the body via the bloodstream. The most feared consequences are life-threatening inflammation of the heart valves (gonococcal endocarditis) or the meninges (gonococcal meningitis).