What is disseminated gonococcal infection?

What is disseminated gonococcal infection?

Disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) results from bacteremic spread of the sexually transmitted pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which can lead to a variety of clinical symptoms and signs, such as arthritis or arthralgias, tenosynovitis, and multiple skin lesions.

What are the symptoms of disseminated gonococcal?

Symptoms that commonly occur with DGI include:

• fever or chills.
• feeling ill or generally unwell (malaise)
• pain in the joints.
• swelling of the joints.
• pain in the tendons of the wrists or heels.
• a skin rash with pink or red spots that become filled with pus.

What does DGI rash look like?

Clinical suspicion of DGI should arise in patients with a classic triad of skin rash, polyarthralgia and tenosynovitis, termed ‘arthritis-dermatitis syndrome’. Characteristic cutaneous lesions are scattered small-sized purpuric macules on palms and soles, which can evolve into vesicopustules with hemorrhage.

How do you treat DGI?

Patients with DGI should be treated for at least 1 week with IV ceftriaxone (8). Treatment duration should be extended in patients who do not improve adequately. Rash associated with DGI disappears after 4–5 days without treatment.

How is DGI diagnosed?

Definitive diagnosis of disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) or gonococcal arthritis is made through the identification of the etiologic pathogen in a specimen taken from a non-mucosal site (such as blood, synovial fluid, or skin lesions).

Can gonorrhea cause lesions?

Gonorrhea typically causes uncomplicated infection of the urethra, cervix, rectum, pharynx, and/or conjunctivae. Sometimes gonorrhea spreads to the adnexa, causing salpingitis, or disseminates to skin and/or joints, causing skin lesions or septic arthritis.

Can gonorrhea cause sores?

The bacterium that causes gonorrhea can spread through the bloodstream and infect other parts of your body, including your joints. Fever, rash, skin sores, joint pain, swelling and stiffness are possible results.

Will DGI go away on its own?

Rash associated with DGI disappears after 4–5 days without treatment. Patients with tenosynovitis who do not improve with IV antibiotics may require tenosynovectomy and drainage. Gonococcus and chlamydial infections coexist in a significant percentage of community patients.

How long before gonorrhea becomes serious?

When an untreated infection moves into a woman’s pelvic organs, symptoms can include lower belly pain, pain during sex, vaginal bleeding, and a fever. The time from exposure to gonorrhea until symptoms begin usually is 2 to 5 days. But it may take as long as 30 days before symptoms start.

How rare is DGI?

DGI is uncommon and thought to occur in 0.5-3% of untreated gonorrhea cases.