Version: April 2024
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterium. It primarily infects the mucous membranes of the urethra, cervix, rectum, throat, and eyes. Symptoms may include painful urination, abnormal discharge, sore throat, and, in women, pelvic pain. However, many individuals show no symptoms. Without treatment, gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems like pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. It can be prevented through safe sexual practices and successfully treated with antibiotics.
The cases of Gonorrhea in mainland China exhibited a general upward trend from April 2014 to August 2017, culminating at 13803. Post this peak, the cases seemingly followed a zigzag pattern with gradual apparent decline. Noticeably, the cases slightly dipped during the winter months while surged in the summers, possibly correlating with the seasonality of sexual activity. The lowest count (4762) occurred in January 2023, following spikes in 2021. Thereafter, the cases depicted more stability around 10,000, with occasional troughs, indicating ongoing transmission and resistance to eradication efforts.
Over the span of the examined data, deaths due to Gonorrhea were sporadic and noticeably low in comparison to the number of reported cases. Only 15 deaths were registered in total, with the highest count of 4 deaths observed in January 2020. A plausible explanation for this minimal mortality could be effective treatment strategies available for Gonorrhea. Additionally, it was seen that death incidents were not consistently tied to peak case counts, suggesting that deaths might not be directly proportional to case increase and could be influenced by treatment accessibility and healthcare quality.