Gonorrhea

Acute inflammatory disease of mucous membrane, especially of the urethra in the male and the urethra and endometrium in the female, but also frequently affecting the eye, rectum, and occasionally the nose and mouth. It is due to a specific dipploccus which was definitely determined by Neiser in 1879, and which has an incubation period of from three to ten days. The disease runs a course of about six weeks, but owing to insufficient or incompetent treatment it frequently becomes chronic and may remain in the urethra for an indefinite period. In the female it is apt to ascend along the fallopian tubes to the ovaries and cause very serious difficulties, occasionally resulting in fatal peritonitis. Its treatment consists of injections of mild antiseptics during the acute period, followed later by astringents, and a careful attention to diet and general hygiene.