GONORRHEA (a) Infective Agent.—Micrococcus gonorrhea.
(b) Source of Infective Agent.—Acute or chronic cases or carriers.
(c) Exit of Infective Agent.—In purulent or serous discharges from inflamed mucous membranes and glands of infected per sons, viz., the urethral, vaginal and cervical mucosa; conjunc tival mucous membranes, Bartholin's or Skene's glands in the female, and Cowper's and the prostate glands in the male.
(d) Routes of Transmission.—By direct personal contact, usually venereal, with infected persons and indirectly by con tact with articles freshly soiled with the discharges of such persons.
(e) Incubation Period.—One to eight days, usually three to five.
(1) Period of Communicability.—As long as the gonococcus persists in any of the discharges, whether the infection be an old or recent one.
(g) Entrance of the Infective Agent into the Body.—Through areas of specialized epithelium in the genitalia or conjunctiva.
(h) Methods of Infected Individual.—r. Diag
nosis: Clinical symptoms confirmed by bacteriological examination.
2. Isolation: When the lesions are in the genito-urinary tract exclusion from sexual contact should be enforced, and when conjunctival, exclusion from school or contact with children as long as the discharges contain the gonococcus.
3. Artificial Immunization: Active immunization with stock or autogenous bacterins is extensively employed therapeuti cally, but the results secured are not uniform. For obvious reasons they are not employed as a prophylactic.
4. Quarantine: None.
5. Concurrent disinfection: Of discharges from lesions and articles soiled therewith.
6. Terminal Disinfection: None.
General Measures.-1. Same as those enumerated under this heading with syphilis.
2. Use of prophylactic silver solution in the eyes of the new born. (See preventable blindness.)