Gonorrhea in the eye

Mader, Sylvia S. Human Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Gonorrhea and chlamydia, both bacterial infections, can be passed from a mother’s birth canal to her baby’s eyes during birth. It has been shown that women using a birth control pill can be at a higher risk for contracting gonorrhea because the hormones cause the genital tract to be more susceptible to pathogens. Many patients, both men and women, can be asymptomatic, and many women are not diagnosed with gonorrhea until they present with PID (pelvic inflammatory disease). PID from gonorrhea is most common in women that use an IUD (intrauterine device). PID can scar uterine tubes which can cause infertility, ectopic pregnancy, or chronic pelvic pain. The bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoae can infect different parts of the body: the anus can be infected, oral/gential contact can infect the mouth, throat, or tonsils, and manual transfer from infected genitals to eyes is also possible. A gonorrheal infection of the eye can cause blindness, and pregnant women are tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia during their prenatal care. If positive, they are treated and re-tested until they are negative, and, as prophylaxis, the baby may receive a dose of erythromycin eye drops.