CD News Alert

CD HEALTH ALERT: Increased Disseminated Gonorrhea Infection (DGI) in California and Orange County

November 2, 2021

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Orange County Health Care Agency have been receiving increased reports of disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). DGI is an uncommon but severe complication of untreated gonorrhea. DGI occurs when the sexually transmitted pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae invades the bloodstream and spreads to distant sites in the body leading to clinical findings such as septic arthritis, polyarthalgia, tenosynovitis, petechial and pustular skin lesions, bacteremia and on rare occasion endocarditis or meningitis.