Physicians have warned that untreated gonorrhoea infection in pregnancy can cause conjunctivitis in infants during delivery as they pass through the birth canal.
The experts said if the condition is not immediately and properly treated in newborns, it could lead to permanent blindness.
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention defined gonorrhoea as a sexually transmitted disease capable of causing infection in the genitals, rectum and throat.
The World Health Organisation stated that the prevalence of gonorrhoea is high among vulnerable populations such as persons with different sexual orientations and commercial sex workers.
According to a health and wellness brand, Healthline, gonococcal conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is an infection that develops due to gonorrhoea infection.
Meanwhile, a study by Abdulsalam Mohammed, published in the Nigerian Journal of Basic and Clinical Sciences, reports that neonatal conjunctivitis remains the major cause of preventable childhood blindness in developing countries.
Commenting on the issue, an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Professor Oluwarotimi Akinola, affirmed that babies born through vaginal delivery by mothers with gonorrhoea infection can have gonorrhoea conjunctivitis.
“When a baby is born through the birth canal infected with gonococcus, they get gonorrhoea conjunctivitis. So, it’s not impossible,” he added.
Another Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto State, Professor Abubakar Panti, stated that chlamydia and gonorrhoea are two genital tract infections that could cause conjunctivitis either in a newborn or a sexual partner.
Chlamydia, according to WHO is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. While it is easily treated and cured with antibiotics, it can cause infertility and ectopic pregnancy if not treated.
He said, “It is commonly transmitted when a mother who has these infections infects the baby during the process of childbirth. It can also get into the eyes directly through genital fluid or the semen for those who have oral sex or when infected people rub their eyes after touching the infected fluids.”
Also, a Public Health expert, Dr Tuyi Mebawondu, said pregnant mothers with gonorrhoea infection stand the risk of infecting their babies with gonorrhoea conjunctivitis during vaginal births.
He added that such cases are common among babies, noting that two weeks after delivery, such babies will begin to have a fever, watery eyes, pus and red eyes
Mebawondu also said that such babies must be treated immediately to prevent damage to the eyes and blindness.
He added that in adults, the symptoms of gonorrhoea eye infections include redness of the eyes, watery eyes, pus and pain in the eyes, and difficulty looking at light.
Mebawondu advised pregnant women and others with gonorrhoea infection or onset of any eye infection to present early to the hospital.
Credit: Punch
