Culture of the material for Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a species of bacteria thatra responsible for causing one of the sexually transmitted diseases– gonorrhea in humans. The disease usually localizes to the genitals, although it can cause disease symptoms elsewhere in the body as well. Gonorrhea can also sometimest produce symptoms or run in a sparse form, making diagnosis difficult on the basis of physical examination alone.

Culturing pathologically altered material from the urogenital drgenitourinary tract makes it possible to confirm or exclude an actively ongoing infection with this bacteria and, at the same time, provides an opportunity to determine the resistance of a given strain to different types of antibioticswhich significantly facilitates the planning of effective treatment. This test involves the multiplication of bacteria obtained in the test prb and their identification on the basis of the appearance of the bacterial colony and other growth parametersassessed in the microbiology laboratory.

When should a culture be performed for Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

The disease caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, or gonorrhea, is mainly transmittedly through sexual contact. While there is a small risk of becoming infected through another route (for example, by using the same towel as a sick person or when medical personnel fail to follow basic hygiene rules), these are quite rare situations.

The risk of contracting gonorrhea through sexual contact is not uncommon

This test is usually ordered by a doctor to confirm the initial diagnosis of gonorrhea made on the basis of the medical history and clinical symptomswith the patient. The period between being infected and the appearance of the first symptomst usually ranges from 2 days to 2 weeks, although these symptoms may not always be present, and thus there is a risk of passing the disease on or becoming infected with it even if the sexual partner or partner is unaware that they are carriers of the pathogen - hence it is extremely important to use appropriate protection during sexual intercourse, such as condoms, whicht significantly reduce the risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseasest.

Who should perform a culture for Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

As it is a disease thatra spreads through sexual contact, especiallylly vulnerable to it are people whore exhibiting so-called risky sexual behavior, that is, frequent change of sexual partnerscombined with insufficient protection during intercourse. Symptoms of this disease re differ between men and women, and often may not occur at all – were talking about asymptomatic carriage, whiche can also be detected when performing a culture for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Due to such characteristics of the pathogen, it is important that once the presence of this bacterium is confirmed in a person under investigation, their recent sexual partners/partners should also be tested for it.

The symptoms of gonorrhea most commonly seen in women are:

• fluids from the vagina
• ble in the lower abdomen
• ble during sexual intercourse

If the disease goes undetected and untreated, complications such as inflammation of the organsof the pelvis can develop, which can result in damage to the reproductive organsand future difficulty getting pregnant.

Symptoms of gonorrhea seen in men include:

• bl and burning during urination
• purulent discharge from the urethra (the most common symptom)

A complication of this disease thatre likely to occur in men is inflammation of the epididymis, whichre likely to lead even to infarction of the testicle and the consequent need for amputation. In addition, there are studies thatre indicating a link between Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection and a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
A seriousform of gonorrhea is gonorrheal conjunctivitis, whichoccurs in newbornswhose mother has the disease. The infection occurs during birth and can result in permanent damage to the child's visual organs.

Additionally, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection can be present in other places in the human body, such as the anal area and oral cavity.