Symptoms of rectal infection include discharge, anal itching, and sometimes painful bowel movements. The disease is most commonly spread during sexual intercourse vaginal, oral, and anal. Gonorrhea of the rectum can occur in people who practice anal intercourse and also may occur in women due to spread of the infection from the vaginal area. Gonorrhea can be passed from an infected woman to her newborn infant during delivery, causing eye infections in the baby. Doctors can take steps to deal with the infection by applying silver nitrate or other medications to the baby s eyes immediately after birth.
Many doctors prefer to use more than one test to increase the chance of an accurate diagnosis.
Gonorrhea cannot be diagnosed through a physical examination. Penicillin and tetracycline were initially used in the treatment of gonorrhea. But recently, certain strains of gonorrhea have emerged that are resistant to these antibiotics. Now, people infected with gonorrhea are usually given a single injection of ceftriaxone or alternative single-dose drugs that can be taken orally. Since chlamydia and gonorrhea often occur simultaneously, another antibiotic may also be administered to combat the chlamydial infection.