Case study

A male, 24 years of age presents to the STI clinic. He complains of a burning and sore sensation upon urination, along with discharge from his penis that has a mucopurulent consistency and is green-yellow in color. In the preceding two weeks, he has had unprotected sex with numerous partners.

Laboratory tests

A penile/urethral swab is taken from the male and is inoculated onto NYC agar and chocolate agar. The plates are incubated at 37?C in CO2 at the clinic and later that evening are transported to the microbiology laboratory. A Gram stain is carried out on a smear of the penile discharge. The patient is also screened for other STI's and is interviewed in relation to contact tracing his sexual partners.

Results

The following are the results obtained for the organisms growing on the chocolate agar and the organism growing on the NYC agar. Both agars were incubated in CO2 at 37?C. Two organisms, A and B, were growing on the chocolate agar. Organism B was growing on both agars. This organism was identified as Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The preliminary identification of organism A was not obtained. Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative pathogen of gonorrhoeae, a sexually transmitted infection that is characterised by a pus filled infection of the surfaces of the mucous membranes of the throat, eye, vagina and urethra in males and females. This pathogen can be spread through direct sexual contact or through vertical transmission from mother to baby during birth. Symptoms of this bacteria in males include painful urination and urethral discharge, while females present with increased vaginal discharge. Usually females infected with this pathogen present as asymptomatic and are the biggest reservoir of this STI (Edwards and Apicella, 2004).

Compare and contrast the assessment findings above for the following 3 STD's for men and women:

Chlamydia

Genital herpes

Human papillomavirus (HPV)

pur-new-sol

Related Questions