Pharyngitis - Gonococcal
Alternate Names : Gonococcal Pharyngitis
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Treatment
There are two aspects of treating a sexually transmitted disease, especially one as easily spread as gonorrhea. The first aspect is to cure the affected person. The second is to locate and test all of the other sexual contacts and to treat them to prevent further spread of the disease.
That is why mandatory reporting has been instituted and has, until recently, held the number of cases of gonorrhea at a low level. However, the incidence is once again rising.
Beginning about the time of the Vietnam War, the United States saw the appearance of penicillin- and tetracycline-resistant strains of gonorrhea. Resistant strains have been increasing over the last few years.
Because of this, a new standardized treatment regimen has now been recommended by the Centers for Disease control (CDC). Instead of the standard penicillin treatment, gonorrhea is now treated with newer antibiotics.
This treatment regimen includes any one of the following antibiotics.
- INJECTIONS
- Ceftriaxone IM (injected into a muscle)
- Spectinomycin IM (injected into a muscle)
- ORAL (by mouth) one-time dose
- Cefixime
- Ciprofloxacin
- Ofloxacin
- Cefuroxime Axetil
- Cefpodoxime proxetil
- Enoxacin
- ORAL (by mouth) multiple dose
In addition to treatment for gonorrhea, patients are usually treated at the same time for chlamydia. This can be harder to diagnose ,but can sometimes be found to cause infection at the same time.
A follow-up visit 7 days after treatment to recheck cultures and confirm the cure of infection is important.
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