A cephalosporin drug, used to treat bacterial infections.
Causes The disease is directly contagious from another person already suffering from it – usually by sexual intercourse, but occasionally conveyed by the discharge on sponges, towels or clothing as well as by actual contact. The gonococcus is found in the discharge expressed from the urethra, which may be spread as a ?lm on a glass slide, suitably stained, and examined under the microscope; or a culture from the discharge may be made on certain bacteriological media and ?lms from this, similarly examined under the microscope. Since discharges resembling that of gonorrhoea accompany other forms of in?ammation, the identi?cation of the organism is of great importance. A gram-stained smear of urethral discharge enables rapid identi?cation of the gonococcus in around 90 per cent of men.
Symptoms These di?er considerably, according to whether the disease is in an acute or a chronic stage.
MEN After an incubation period of 2–10 days, irritation in the urethra, scalding pain on passing water, and a viscid yellowish-white discharge appear; the glands in the groin often enlarge and may suppurate. The urine when passed is hazy and is often found to contain yellowish threads of pus visible to the eye. After some weeks, if the condition has become chronic, the discharge is clear and viscid, there may be irritation in passing urine, and various forms of in?ammation in neighbouring organs may appear – the TESTICLE, PROSTATE GLAND and URINARY BLADDER becoming affected. At a still later stage the in?ammation of the urethra is apt to lead to gradual formation of ?brous tissue around this channel. This contracts and produces narrowing, so that urination becomes di?cult or may be stopped for a time altogether (the condition known as stricture). In?ammation of some of the joints is a common complication in the early stage – the knee, ankle, wrist, and elbow being the joints most frequently affected – and this form of ‘rheumatism’ is very intractable and liable to lead to permanent sti?ness. The ?brous tissues elsewhere may also develop in?ammatory changes, causing pain in the back, foot, etc. In occasional cases, during the acute stage, SEPTICAEMIA may develop, with in?ammation of the heart-valves (ENDOCARDITIS) and abscesses in various parts of the body. The infective matter occasionally is inoculated accidentally into the eye, producing a very severe form of conjunctivitis: in the newly born child this is known as ophthalmia neonatorum and, although now rare in the UK. has in the past been a major cause of blindness (see EYE, DISORDERS OF). WOMEN The course and complications of the disease are somewhat di?erent in women. It begins with a yellow vaginal discharge, pain on urination, and very often in?ammation or abscess of the Bartholin’s glands, situated close to the vulva or opening of the vagina. The chief seriousness, however, of the disease is due to the spread of in?ammation to neighbouring organs, the UTERUS, FALLOPIAN TUBES, and OVARIES, causing permanent destructive changes in these, and leading occasionally to PERITONITIS through the Fallopian tube with a fatal result. Many cases of prolonged ill-health and sterility or recurring miscarriages are due to these changes.
Treatment The chances of cure are better the earlier treatment is instituted. PENICILLIN is the antibiotic of choice but unfortunately the gonococcus is liable to become resistant to this. In patients who are infected with penicillin-resistant organisms, one of the other antibiotics (e.g. cefotaxime, cipro?oxacin or spectinomycin) is used. In all cases it is essential that bacteriological investigation should be carried out at weekly intervals for three or four weeks, to make sure that the patient is cured. Patients attending with gonorrhoea are asked if they will agree to tests for other sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV (see AIDS/HIV) and for assistance in contact tracing.... gonorrhoea
First-generation examples still in use include cephalexin and cefadroxil. They are orally active and, along with second-generation cefaclor, have a similar antimicrobial spectrum. They are used for ‘resistant’ urinary infections and urinary infections in pregnancy. Cephalosporins have a similar pharmacology to that of penicillin, and about 10 per cent of patients allergic to penicillin will also be hypersensitive to cephalosporins. They are e?ective in treating SEPTICAEMIA, PNEUMONIA, MENINGITIS, biliary-tract infections and PERITONITIS.
Second-generation cefuroxime and cefamandole are less vulnerable to penicillinases and are useful for treating ‘resistant’ bacteria and Haemophilus in?uenzae and Neisseria gonorrhoea. Third-generation cephalosporins include cefotaxime, ceftazidime and others; these are more e?ective than the second-generation in treating some gram-negative infections, especially those causing septicaemia.... cephalosporins
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