Gonorrhoea Treatment Singapore | HIV PEP
Gonorrhoea Treatment in Singapore: Gonorrhea, also called “the drip” or “the clap,” is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacterial infection. Gonorrhea can be easily treated.
Treatment of gonorrhea
Treatment is recommended if you have tested positive for gonorrhea, and may be recommended if your symptoms closely correlate with gonorrhea, even if you have not received the test results; it’s also recommended that you be treated if your sex partner has been diagnosed with gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea in Singapore is usually treated with a short course of antibiotics, such as quinolones or cephalosporins. Although most strains of the gonococcus are vulnerable to antibiotic treatment, some strains are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
Early treatment of gonorrhea prevents the occurrence of complications at a later stage of the life. To treat gonorrhea, you may be given a single antibiotic injection in the buttock muscle. This treatment is followed by an oral antibiotic tablet. Research studies have shown that this treatment regimen is highly effective against gonorrhea infection. If you have allergies to certain antibiotics or if your strain of the bacteria is resistant to them, then you may be given a course of oral antibiotics to take for seven days.
If you are a pregnant or nursing mother, you can generally take these antibiotics without causing side effects to your baby.
If you take the treatment as directed, your symptoms will improve within a few days. It may take up to two weeks to see complete relief from gonorrhea symptoms.
In case of severe corneal (eye) infection, you may need to be treated with intravenous (IV) antibiotics in a hospital setting. You will be discharged once the symptoms get improved and the infection is under-control. To treat infection of the joints, surgical care is often considered to drain the fluid from the joint with a large needle. If you have pelvic inflammatory disease, your doctor usually recommends removal of any intra-uterine contraceptive device, as there may be complications.
For the prevention of eye complications, all infants born to infected mothers should be treated preventively. The treatment involves administration of a single dose of ceftriaxone by injection, for babies of infected mothers. Additionally, a solution or ointment will be placed in your baby’s eyes; in Singapore, gonorrhea is prevented by applying this treatment to all babies, whether or not the mother has a known infection.
If there is no improvement in symptoms within a few days, or if the symptoms get worse, visit your doctor immediately. Your doctor may look for other underlying problems, or prescribe alternate treatments to clear the infection.
You must visit your doctor for follow-up one or two weeks after treatment is completed. Your doctor may order a repeat test to make sure your infection is cured. You and your partner(s) should abstain from sexual activities during treatment to prevent re-infection or transmission of gonorrhea.
If left untreated, gonorrhea can cause complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a painful problem that affects the female reproductive organs. PID can cause infertility. Males may suffer swelling in one or both testicles and in the penis; rarely, testicular swelling can also cause infertility. A rare but severe complication of gonorrhea is the development of disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI), in which the bacteria spread through the bloodstream and cause arthritis, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, and skin problems.