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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffGonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The gonorrhea bacteria are most often passed from one person to another during sexual contact, including oral, anal or vaginal intercourse.
References
- Handsfield HH, et al. Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2005:2514..
- Gonorrhea - CDC fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/STDFact-gonorrhea.htm. Accessed Nov. 11, 2008.
- del Rio C, et al. Update to CDC's "Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2006:" Fluoroquinolones no longer recommended for treatment of gonococcal infections. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. 2007;56:332.
- Swygard H, et al. Patient information: Gonorrhea. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Workowski KA, et al. Emerging antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Urgent need to strengthen prevention strategies. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2008;148:606.
- Holder NA. Gonococcal infections. Pediatrics in Review. 2008;29:228.
- Screening for gonorrhea: Recommendation statement. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf05/gonorrhea/gonrs.htm. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
