Sexually Transmitted Disease
The Child Abuse Team at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center provides the following table as a guide for healthcare professionals in interpreting laboratory test results for Gonorrhea (GC), Neisseria Gonorrhea.
| Infection Sites | Vagina, cervix, urethra, rectum, throat, pelvis (PID), systemic |
Incubation Period
and Symptoms | Vaginal infection in prepubertal girls usually causes discharge within two to seven days. Rectal and throat infections in all ages, as well as cervical infections in adolescents, are often asymptomatic. |
| Transmission | During delivery, an infant may be infected. Eye infections are most common and result in eye discharge within a few days of life. Vaginal and rectal infections are also possible. Vaginal infections beyond the newborn period should be presumed to be from sexual abuse. There is little known about the persistence of asymptomatic rectal and pharyngeal infections. |
| Diagnostic Tests | The only acceptable testing method is bacterial CULTURE. A positive culture must be confirmed by two other identification tests before the diagnosis is made. Misidentification will occur if these methods are not followed. |
