Woman died after ‘rampant STI' invaded her body and attacked her vital organs – 4 signs you must know
The unnamed woman from
Alaska
, who was in her 50s, passed away from disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI).
1
Alaskan health officials warned high risk strains of gonorrhoea might be affecting people without symptoms
Credit: Alamy
This is a rare but serious complication of the sexually transmitted infection
It occurs when Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria spreads from the initial site of infection, seeping into the bloodstream and vital organs.
DGI is thought to occur in just 0.5 percent of all gonorrhoea cases.
The woman arrived at her local emergency department in Anchorage, Alaska, in spring this year, already in a critical condition.
Read more on STIs
She was in respiratory distress - when the lungs aren't working properly due to serious illness - and was diagnosed with septic shock and heart failure, caused by
Further testing revealed her body had been invaded by gonorrhoea bacteria.
But the patient wasn't diagnosed with DGI until after she'd passed away.
There were no records of her being tested for gonorrhoea prior to her presenting at the emergency department.
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She'd been treated twice in the prior six months for opioid abuse, according to the
Eight cases of DGI were reported in Alaska between January and May 2025, report authors added.
How to put a condom on - NHS
The cases were spotted after patients were evaluated in emergency departments in Anchorage.
Epidemiologic investigations didn't establish connections
between any of the DGI cases.
While gonorrhoea can be got rid of with antibiotics, some infected people may not get tested or treated as they don't have symptoms of the STI, according to Dr Liz Ohlsen, a staff physician with the Alaska Department of Health who wrote the report.
As a result, they run the risk of developing dangerous DGI, she told the
Health officials fear that a strain less likely to cause symptoms is circulating in Alaska, Dr Ohlsen went on.
'We think the most likely explanation for the rise in DGI cases is that more people with gonorrhoea are not getting tested and treated in a timely manner," she said.
"Asymptomatic infections are thought to pose a greater risk of persistent untreated infection because people are less likely to have sought care."
The Alaska Department of Health bulletin warned that people in Anchorage with a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner, or a partner with multiple partners might be at risk of acquiring a strain of N. gonorrhoeae that's thought to carry a higher risk of causing DGI.
Symptoms of gonorrhoea
Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea include:
A thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis
Pain when urinating
Pain and discomfort in the rectum
Lower abdominal pain and bleeding between periods in women and other people with a uterus or ovaries
Gonorrhoea can affect other parts of your body that come into contact with semen or vaginal fluid.
This can cause:
Pain, itching and discharge from your bottom
A sore throat
Eye redness, pain and discharge
However, many people infected with gonorrhoea will have no symptoms, especially for infections in the throat, vagina or rectum.
This lack of symptoms makes it important to test regularly when having sex with new or casual partners.
If you do get symptoms, they usually start around two weeks after infection, although they sometimes do not appear until many months later.
Untreated gonorrhoea can lead to serious health complications including:
Infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
An infection of the female reproductive system, which includes the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries
An infection in the testicles or prostate
In rare cases, gonorrhoea bacteria can cause a disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI).
It can cause frequently results in purple or pus-filled spots on the skin, joint pain, inflamed tendons or septic joint infections.
Rarely, DGI can lead to inflammation of the liver, endocarditis - an infection of the inner heart lining - and meningitis.
Having gonorrhoea during pregnancy can increase your risk of premature birth and your baby having a low birth weight.
There's also a risk the infection could spread to your baby's eyes during birth, which is called gonococcal conjunctivitis.
This can cause blindness if it's not treated with antibiotics.
"While no specific sexual network has been identified, this strain may be circulating more broadly among persons with gonorrhea infection in Southcentral Alaska," report authors said.
"The absence of documented gonorrhoea risk factors in most DGI
cases suggests patients may not be asked about or disclosing key
sexual
history
.
"Few had symptoms before presenting with DGI, consistent with its progression from untreated mucosal infections.
"Asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients with GC are less
likely to seek health care and may be at a higher risk of persistent
untreated infection leading to disseminated infection."
In the UK, health officials issued warnings earlier this year over cases of
While most gonorrhoea infections can be treated effectively, certain resistant strains "present significant treatment challenges",
the UK
Health
Security Agency (UKHSA)
said.
It warned that increased resistance could one day make the STI 'untreatable'.
Meanwhile, the
NHS
announced it would begin vaccinating people against gonorrhoea come August, after cases of the STI hit a record 85,000 in 2023.
Local sexual health clinics will offer the jab to gay and bisexual men, who are most at risk.
Patients will receive the 4CMenB vaccine for meningitis B, which has been found to nearly halve the chances of catching
Health chiefs reckon they can prevent around 10,000 cases per year.
How to avoid STIs
In general, sexually transmitted infections are highly preventable.
The only method guaranteed to prevent STIs is to avoid any kind of sexual contact, but this method probably won't appeal to everyone!
There are things you can do to limit the risk of exposure to infections while still enjoying an active sex life.
The best way to avoid most STIs is to use a condom when you have vaginal or anal sex, as well as condoms and dental dams during oral sex.
Below are some other things you can do to reduce the chances:
Talking honestly with potential partners about your sexual history
Getting tested, along with your new partner, before having sex
Getting tested once a year
Avoiding sex when under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Completing a full course of treatment if you or your partner are diagnosed with an STI
Not sharing sex toys, or washing them a covering them with a new condom if you do
Where appropriate, getting vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B
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