Teaching outline
Introduction
Gonorrhea prevalence is high among adolescents aged between 15-24 years; this is largely attributed to the fact that most young people are sexually active, most adolescents also engage in risk sexual behaviors such as having multiple sex partners and having unprotected sex (Cheung, Montgomery & Benjamins, 2015). Lack of awareness and information on the need to get tested and treated among the adolescents is what has exacerbated its spread. Therefore, there is the need to create awareness about gonorrhea amongst adolescents.
Learning objectives
The goal of this educational program is to enlighten the adolescents on the causes, signs and symptoms of gonorrhea, and also to discuss importance of testing, treatment and management methods and also prevention.
Causes of gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a bacterial disease normally transmitted through sexual contact with an infected person. The sexual contact can either be oral, vaginal or anal. It is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, its incubation period is between 1 to 14 days (Jørgensen et al., 2015). Symptoms develop within 2 to 5 days after infection.
Symptoms
In males, symptoms include purulent urethral discharge and burning or pains passing urine. For females, the symptoms are unusual vaginal bleeding, yellowish thick discharge from the vagina, itching in the genital area, and pain during urination and also lower abdominal pains. However, some infected individuals are asymptomatic and therefore do not show any of the above symptoms. If left untreated, it may cause infertility in both male and females.
Testing
It is important to be tested especially for the asymptomatic individuals so that proper treatment can be administered on time and prevent further transmission to other adolescents. Gonorrhea is diagnosed by a healthcare provider through taking a sexual history, carrying out a physical examination and taking laboratory tests
Management
It is managed by taking prescribed antibiotics and also notifying your partner so that he/she can also get tested and treated. It is also recommended that a follow-up testing is done after treatment to ascertain that one is fully cured and gonorrhea free.
Prevention
Gonorrhea can be prevented through abstinence, consistently using condoms, limiting the number of sexual partners or having mutually monogamous relationships, delaying sexual activity till marriage, and going for regular STD checkups.
Evaluation
References
Cheung, K. K., Montgomery, D., & Benjamins, L. J. (2015). Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Adolescents Entering Child Protective Services. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology, 28(5), 324-326.
Jørgensen, M. J., Maindal, H. T., Christensen, K. S., Olesen, F., & Andersen, B. (2015). Sexual behaviour among young Danes aged 15–29 years: a cross-sectional study of core indicators. Sexually transmitted infections, sextrans-2014.
Appendices
