The strategy is part of a project aimed at eliminating syphilis by 2005. The state had been experiencing an eight-year decline in gonorrhea rates until 1998. That year may have been unusually high because of an increased effort to test for STDs, Daues says. The state launched an infertility prevention project about three years ago after noticing a substantial increase in the number of chlamydia cases statewide. Gonorrhea often occurs together with chlamydia.
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.