Gonorrhea is a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. It is contracted through unprotected sex with an infected partner. Many infected women do not experience any symptoms. Those that do may have a cloudy discharge or abnormal bleeding from the vagina. Symptoms for men include painful urination with a cloudy discharge.
Antibiotics are available for treatment.
Gonorrhea rates increased in 34 states from 1997 to 1998, according to the CDC report. Twenty-two states exceeded the government's goal of no more than 100 cases per 100,000 people. African-Americans in Missouri had six times as many cases as whites. This could be in part because many of the public health clinics in the city serve minorities. The state suspects that its numbers are higher because gonorrhea is often underdiagnosed and goes unreported.