Gonorrhea immunity is permanent.

Gonorrhea immunity is permanent.

• A. Unknown
• B. False
• C. True
• D. Partial

Answer: (B)

Gonorrhea immunity is not permanent. When Neisseria gonorrhoeae infects, the body can mount an immune response, but it doesn’t create long-lasting, broad protection. The bacteria are notorious for antigenic variation on their surface proteins—pili and Opa proteins among others—and can also vary other outer membrane components. This means antibodies generated against one strain may not recognize new strains the next time it’s encountered. The mucosal immune response at the infection site tends to be weak and short-lived, so memory responses don’t reliably prevent reinfection. Clinically and epidemiologically, people can and do get gonorrhea more than once, sometimes with different strains, which shows that natural infection doesn’t confer durable immunity. So the statement that immunity is permanent is not supported by how the pathogen behaves and how the immune system responds. While there may be some transient or limited strain-specific responses, they don’t amount to lasting protection.

Gonorrhea immunity is not permanent. When Neisseria gonorrhoeae infects, the body can mount an immune response, but it doesn’t create long-lasting, broad protection. The bacteria are notorious for antigenic variation on their surface proteins—pili and Opa proteins among others—and can also vary other outer membrane components. This means antibodies generated against one strain may not recognize new strains the next time it’s encountered. The mucosal immune response at the infection site tends to be weak and short-lived, so memory responses don’t reliably prevent reinfection. Clinically and epidemiologically, people can and do get gonorrhea more than once, sometimes with different strains, which shows that natural infection doesn’t confer durable immunity.

So the statement that immunity is permanent is not supported by how the pathogen behaves and how the immune system responds. While there may be some transient or limited strain-specific responses, they don’t amount to lasting protection.