GCSE · Biology · AQA · Spec 8461
Gonorrhoea
Gonorrhoea used to be one of the easy ones. An antibiotic called penicillin treated it easily. Then many resistant strains appeared, and the easy answer stopped being easy.
Say it precisely
Precise, or too vague?
Each phrase is trying to say something true about gonorrhoea. Does it say it precisely, or is it too vague to pin down?
Still to sort
Precise (0)
Names exactly which cause, route or control it means.
Where the line is: A precise phrase could only mean one thing in the gonorrhoea story.
Too vague (0)
True-ish, but it could mean several different things.
Where the line is: If you could swap in a different disease or a different control and the phrase still fits, it's too vague.
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
One bacterium, one route between people, and two ways to break it — plus the antibiotic that stopped being the easy answer.
What you need to know
- Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD): it is spread by sexual contact.
- Gonorrhoea is caused by a bacterium.
- Its symptoms are a thick yellow or green discharge from the vagina or penis, and pain on urinating.
- Its spread can be controlled by treatment with antibiotics, or by a barrier method of contraception such as a condom.
- Gonorrhoea was easily treated with the antibiotic penicillin until many resistant strains appeared.
The big picture
Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a bacterium. Its symptoms are a thick yellow or green discharge from the vagina or penis, and pain on urinating. It is spread by sexual contact. Its spread can be controlled in two ways that act at different points: treatment with antibiotics deals with the infection in the person who has it, and a barrier method of contraception such as a condom puts a barrier in the way of the sexual contact that spreads it. Penicillin once treated gonorrhoea easily, until many resistant strains appeared.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
A student's revision note says: 'Gonorrhoea is caused by sexual contact. Its spread is controlled by antibiotics, which put a barrier in the way.' Find the two mistakes and write a corrected note.
⚠ Watch out
Muddling up a symptom with the cause. The thick yellow or green discharge is something the infection produces; it isn't what causes gonorrhoea. The cause is a bacterium.
Memory hook
One bacterium, one route, two breaks. Treat the person, or put a barrier on the route. And remember: penicillin was the easy fix only until resistant strains appeared.
Check yourself
Cover the page. Say what causes gonorrhoea, its two symptoms, how it spreads, and its two controls. Then add the penicillin twist in one sentence.
Flashcards
(9)What kind of disease is gonorrhoea?
What causes gonorrhoea?
What are the two symptoms of gonorrhoea?
How is gonorrhoea spread?
Name the two ways the spread of gonorrhoea can be controlled.
Which control acts on a person who already has gonorrhoea?
Which control acts on the route gonorrhoea spreads by?
Which antibiotic once treated gonorrhoea easily?
Why is penicillin no longer the easy answer for gonorrhoea?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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