In this week's ER , a man is treated for gonorrhea in the emergency room. If it is not caught early, gonorrhea can have serious side affects like pelvic infection or even infertility. According to Dr. Felicia Stewart, Director of the Reproductive Health Program at the Kaiser Family Foundation, in order to effectively prevent gonorrhea, you need to use condoms consistently and correctly every time you have sex.
Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection of the genital area that often has no symptoms.
It is spread through vaginal, oral or anal intercourse, and can be cured with antibiotics. About 800,000 Americans contract gonorrhea each year, and the highest rates are among women between the ages of 15 and 19. While rates of gonorrhea are slowly declining in the United States, they far exceed gonorrhea rates in other countries. The rate of gonorrhea in the United States is 100 times the reported rate in Sweden, and about 10 times the rate in Canada. There are often no symptoms in women.