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Diagnosing Gonorrhea AdviceWhen it comes to diagnosing gonorrhea, your health care worker will typically use one or more different techniques to confirm that your symptoms are indeed related to the disease. The first and most basic test is a routine procedure that involves staining samples for the bacterium and then allowing it to grow in a laboratory culture. Most physicians, however, will utilize more than a single diagnostic test in order to increase the chances for accuracy. In the stain test, the doctor daubs a small amount of discharge gathered from the penis, cervix, throat or rectum onto a slide and stains it with a dye. An examination of the sample under a high-powered microscope will usually allow either the doctor or a lab tech to determine if the discharge is gonorrhea-based. The stain test usually is quick enough that you can get results during your visit to the doctor or clinic and the results tend to be very accurate for men, though not so much for women. In fact, among women with gonorrhea, only about half actually test positive in the stain test. Fortunately, there is another test, and this one is far more accurate, though the sensitivity of the test does vary dependent upon from where the sample is taken. Under ideal circumstances, the culture test accurately detects infection taken from cervical samples roughly nine of out ten times. This test involves placing a sample of discharge in a culture dish and incubation for up to two days. In addition to taking samples from the cervix, tests can also be run on samples taken from the throat. Culture tests also affords the possibility of testing antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Even if you do not actually have any symptoms, but suspect you may be infected, you can be tested. Gonorrhea symptoms don’t show up for at least a few days after sexual contract and sometimes never show up. Because of this, it’s quite possible you are infected and aren’t even aware. To test for gonorrhea, your physician will use a cotton swab to collect cells rom your genitals or any other region that might possibly be inffected. |
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