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The most revealing aspect I learned about my disease was the effort that went into treating gonorrhea throughout the years. Since the early 20th century, treatment after treatment has been created to hopefully cure gonorrhea. Many tests and trials went into finding the treatment that is currently used, known as ceftriaxone. The most surprising thing I learned about my disease is that it is one of the oldest dated sexually transmitted diseases. I had known idea it dated back to 1161 and it was so surprising to read about the behaviors related to the disease in this era. Something I came across that I wish was included as part of the assignments was looking at the demographics of the disease. I would have loved to do more research to see which parts of the country and even the world experience a high prevalence of gonorrhea and to dive deeper into why this is.

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Besides physical effects of gonorrhea, there were indeed societal and sociological effects and implications. The biggest impact was the stigmatism of the sexually transmitted disease. Many people viewed getting gonorrhea as “dirty” and it had a very negative connotation to it.  Many were shamed by their friends, partners, and family when receiving a positive test. Society had deemed gonorrhea as a very negative thing in the world of health. As far as any changes by society, over the last few decades there has been an increase in education and support for this sexually transmitted disease. There is still a very negative reaction when people hear the term gonorrhea, however there is more support for those dealing with the disease. A major change in the behavior of society was the implication of safer sex. The amount of education on this disease allowed the public to learn ways in which to prevent getting gonorrhea, especially with partners of whom one may not know as well. Sexually transmitted disease testing became more prevalent and accessible for those who need them. Overall, I would say society did learn from the physical effect of this disease. The education provided to the public has allowed those to be more knowledgeable on the topic of the disease and has relieved some of the stigmatism around it.

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Throughout history, there has been many attempts to cure and/or treat gonorrhea. There has been a continuous evolution of treatments as the bacteria itself quickly becomes anti obits-resistant. It wasn’t until the mid 1950s that there became a higher emphasis on control of the sexually transmitted disease by the US Public Health Service. In 1972, the first formal CDC recommendation for gonorrhea therapy was released. As far as innovative initiatives, funding from the government went towards continuous research on gonorrhea therapy, integrating sexually transmitted infection services to the public, and fostering a safe environment  for those to discuss sexually transmitted diseases. Leadership could have had a better response to handling gonorrhea by fostering a safer environment for discussion of the disease earlier on. There should have been more education to the public on its spread and what this disease entails. There is also a sense of shame still surrounding the sexually transmitted disease that leadership could have worked to appease. This also could have been achieved through more education to the public.

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Gonorrhea was handled very proactively by the healthcare community. All throughout history, medical professionals have worked very hard to try and find a remedy for the sexually transmitted diseased. All over the world, people were attempting various treatments ranging from catheters to peppers and balsam to different types of drugs. In 1913, heat therapy was found to work as a treatment for the disease. Heat therapy involved a person submerged his or her whole body in a fever cabinet to expose the bacteria to high heats. However, more effective treatments were found in the coming years such as sulfonamides and penicillin. Gonorrhea became extremely resistant to these forms of treatment, and soon ceftriaxone became widely accepted as a plausible treatment. Currently, the sensitivity of the gonorrhea pathogens in one’s body decides the course of action that needs to be taken for treatment.

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Virulence can be defined as how much a pathogenic organism can cause disease or damage to its host.  With gonorrhea, it’s virulence is very high. It has the second highest rate of reportable STD test in the US as it is easily transmissible through fluids. Over time, virulence of Gonorrhea has increased. This is due to the evolution of the bacteria as they face antibiotics and other resistant factors.

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With the first transmission dating back to 1161 in England, gonorrhea quickly spread throughout Europe. In 1256, France declared a parliament to reduce the spread of the disease.  Since then, Gonorrhea has spread to the United States, the African region, and the Western Pacific. Gonorrhea is still a very prevalent disease to this day. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 700,000 people each year receive new Gonorrhea infections. According to WHO, in 2020 there were 82.4 million people newly infected with Gonorrhea across the globe. It is still a very prévalant disease with millions of people across the world getting infected every year.

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Gonorrhea can be dated back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks, yet the first legal documentation of this disease was provided in 1161 in England.
The suspected infectious agent for gonorrhea is bacteria.
It is a sexually transmitted disease, meaning that it is passed from one person to another through sexual contact as well as blood and bodily fluids.

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Neisseria gonorrhoeae is my disease of study. The common name for this disease is Gonorrhea. It resides in the genus Neisseria.