Chlamydia and gonorrhea are sexually transmitted infections that affect the urinary tract and genitals, but have different symptoms, treatments, and complications. Diagnosis involves a laboratory test, and treatment requires antibiotics. Untreated infections can lead to serious complications, making prevention through condom use crucial.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are infections that are acquired primarily through sexual contact and affect the urinary tract and genitals. Despite these similarities, they are recognizably different diseases, with different symptoms, treatments and complications. Symptoms of chlamydia include discharge and painful urination, while gonorrhea more often causes genital burning and itching. Treatment for both requires antibiotics, but different medications are used.
Our initiatives
Both of these diseases are caused by bacterial infections, but the species that cause them are not the same. Chlamydia is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, while gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These infections are most common in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
Symptoms
Often, it’s not immediately obvious that a person has one of these infections, although symptoms are even less likely in women. In the case of chlamydia, 50% of men and 80% of women show no signs. Nearly all men have at least one symptom of gonorrhea, but only 50% of women have any at all. This means that women are less likely to be diagnosed with both diseases and have a higher risk of developing complications.
Women and men tend to experience chlamydia symptoms differently. In women, they closely resemble those of a bladder infection, with painful urination and low-grade fever, and sometimes a discharge from the vagina or rectum. Women are also likely to experience pain during sexual intercourse. These symptoms make the correct diagnosis different, as the sufferer may assume that a bladder infection is the cause and that medical treatment is unnecessary. Men with chlamydia typically experience light-colored discharge from the penis or rectum, painful urination, and pain in the testicles.
Symptoms of gonorrhea in both men and women can include pain and itching of the genitals, painful and burning urination, increased frequency of urination, and sore throat. In men, a white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis may also occur, along with a red or swollen urethra and swollen testicles that are tender to the touch. For women, vaginal discharge, pain during intercourse, lower abdominal pain, and fever can be caused by the infection.
Diagnosis
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are diagnosed with similar methods. Either way, a urine sample or genital discharge sample is processed in a laboratory using a polymerase chain reaction. In this technique, bacterial DNA from a sample is duplicated to provide enough material to perform a diagnostic analysis. Diagnosis is then completed by comparing the sample’s DNA to that of a known laboratory standard.
Treatment
Antibiotics are the standard treatment for both infections, but the specific medications used are not the same. People with chlamydia typically take erythromycin or azithromycin, while gonorrhea is often treated with ceftriaxone, cefixime, or doxycycline. Depending on the drug, a patient might be given a short course of antibiotic or a single dose treatment.
Complications
Men and women with untreated chlamydia are at risk of developing Reiter’s syndrome, a combination of urethral inflammation, conjunctivitis, and arthritis. Women are also at risk for pelvic inflammatory disease, which affects the uterus and fallopian tubes and can cause infertility. Furthermore, a woman infected at birth has up to a 50% chance of passing the disease to her baby.
Untreated gonorrhea can lead to meningitis, joint infections, and heart valve infection in both women and men. Men are also at risk for urethral inflammation which can lead to scarring. Women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease, fallopian tube scarring, and infertility, or be more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy. The infection can also be passed from a woman to a fetus during pregnancy or childbirth.
Prevention
Chlamydia and gonorrhea can be transmitted both through vaginal and anal intercourse, and through oral sex. A person who wishes to protect himself from these and other sexually transmitted infections should use a condom or other means of protection for all types of sexual contact. This is especially important because the high rate of symptom-free infections means it’s not always possible to tell if someone is infected.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
