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Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which can infect the genital tract, mouth, or rectum. Infants can get the disease from an infected mother during childbirth. It can be carried by males and females and can be cured with antibiotics. Here are some other facts about gonorrhea:

 Each year, 820,000 new cases of gonorrhea are diagnosed.

 Gonorrhea is the second most reported STI.

 Gonorrhea can lead to infertility. Like chlamydia, gonorrhea in women can cause PID, leading to tubal damage. Some doctors test for gonorrhea and chlamydia before doing common fertility tests such as a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), in which dye is injected into the uterus and fallopian tubes to see whether there are any irregularities. (We discuss HSGs in more detail in Chapter 11.) If you have gonorrhea or chlamydia and push dye into the tubes and uterus, you may push the infection up also and end up with more tube or uterine damage than you had to begin with.

 Men with gonorrhea usually have a discharge from the penis and a burning sensation; women may have no symptoms or sometimes pain on urination or an increased vaginal discharge.

Gonorrhea is diagnosed by testing the urine or by taking swabs of the cervix, mouth, or anus. Treatment for uncomplicated gonorrhea involves intramuscular injections of antibiotics (shots!). Lately, drug-resistant forms of gonorrhea have emerged, which makes treatment more difficult, so antibiotic injections are now combined with oral antibiotics when these strains are found.