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TREATMENT OF GONORRHEA: INJECTION AND ORAL DOSAGE

Gonorrhea is considered as one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world. The number of patients infected with gonorrhea is among the highest compared with other STDs. The number of cases in the US is declining slowly, partly due to newly developed medicines that are either administered as intramuscular injection or taken orally.

This type of disease is caused by bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhea, a Gram negative bacterium. The bacterium usually infects the columnar epithelium first. Columnar epithelium is located in the urethra and endocervix.

Gonorrhea doesn’t stop there, the bacteria also infects non genital areas such as the rectum, the conjunctiva of the eyes and the oropharynx. The first target of the bacteria in women is usually the cervix – the vagina and vulva are mostly spared from the STD.

Treatment for gonorrhea comes in many different forms. Antibiotics are considered most effective in curing the disease. These can come in the form of an injection or oral dosages. The Center for Disease Control already includes gonorrhea in it’s list of super bugs, which is a term given to diseases that are resistant to common antibiotics.

Penicillin was the most frequently used antibiotic prior to the 1970’s. Resistance to this form of treatment rose up after that, which ultimately led to the decline of penicillin use. Due to varying degrees of resistance to certain antibiotics from one location to the next, it is not feasible to recommend treatment that can be applied everywhere in the world.

Here are some antibiotics that may be used to treat gonorrhea; Azithromycin 2 g orally, Cefotaxime 500 mg by intramuscular injection, Cefoxitin 2 g by intramuscular injection, Ceftriaxone 125 to 250 mg by intramuscular injection, Levofloxacin 250 mg orally, Spectinomycin 2 g by intramuscular injection and Ofloxacin 400 mg orally. The drugs listed above are all given as a single dosage.

There are certain limitations in the use of some of the antibiotics previously mentioned. Fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and levofloxacin cannot be administered to pregnant women. Penicillin use for rectal gonorrhea is ineffective.

All antibiotics mentioned above are less effective as a cure for gonorrhea infection of the throat. Tetracycline is now almost ineffective in most parts of the world because the level of resistance in gonorrhea has reached a very high level.

Proper use and knowledge of the treatments currently available are certainly needed to reduce the number of cases of gonorrhea infections. Awareness to this disease should also be heightened as this would prevent more infections occurring in the first place.