Gonorrhea
Topic Overview
What is gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It is a bacterial infection of the urethra in men and the urethra, cervix, or both in women. Gonorrhea can also infect the rectum, anus, throat, pelvic organs, and, in rare cases, the conjunctiva, which is the membrane that lines the eyelid and eye surface.
Gonorrhea can cause serious health problems.
- For a woman, untreated gonorrhea can move into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries
. This can cause painful scar tissue and inflammation, known as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). And PID can cause infertility or ectopic pregnancy.
- For a man, untreated gonorrhea may increase the risk of bladder cancer.1
You may hear some people refer to gonorrhea as the clap, drip, or GC.
What causes gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It can be spread during vaginal, anal, or oral sex with an infected partner. You have a high risk of getting infected when your partner has gonorrhea and you have sex without a condom.2
With or without symptoms, an infected sex partner can give you gonorrhea until he or she has been treated.
A pregnant woman may pass the infection to her newborn during delivery.
Having a gonorrhea infection once does not protect you from getting another infection in the future. A new exposure to gonorrhea will cause a new infection, even if you were previously treated and cured. This is why it is so important for your partner to be treated when you are.
What are the symptoms?
It is fairly common for gonorrhea to cause no symptoms, especially in women. People who do not have symptoms can unknowingly transmit gonorrhea infections to their sex partners.
The throat, anus, urethra, and rectum are common areas of infection in both men and women. If symptoms are present, they may include painful urination, anal itching or bleeding, or abnormal discharge from the penis or vagina. Gonorrhea infection in the throat doesn't usually cause symptoms, such as a sore throat.
In men, symptoms are usually obvious enough that they will cause a man to seek medical attention before complications occur.
In women, the early symptoms are sometimes so mild that they are mistaken for a bladder infection or vaginal infection. When an untreated infection has moved into the pelvic organs, symptoms can include lower pelvic or belly pain, vaginal bleeding, fever, and pain during sex.
The incubation period—the time from exposure to gonorrhea until symptoms develop—is usually 2 to 5 days, but sometimes symptoms may not develop for up to 30 days.
How is gonorrhea diagnosed?
Your health professional will ask you questions about your medical history and will do a physical examination. He or she will ask you questions about your risk factors for STIs. Risk factors for gonorrhea include:
- Having multiple sex partners (more than one sex partner in the past year).
- Having a high-risk partner (who has multiple sex partners, unprotected sex, or gonorrhea-infected sex partner).
- Having unprotected sexual contact (not using condoms).
Lab tests must be done to confirm gonorrhea infection. These tests may include taking samples of fluid from the affected areas (such as the urethra, rectum or throat) or taking urine samples.
How is it treated?
Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic treatment, if taken exactly as directed, normally cures gonorrhea infections. If antibiotics are not taken properly, the infection will not be cured. Prompt antibiotic treatment also prevents the spread of the infection and decreases the risk of complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).
Avoid any sexual contact while you are being treated for an STI. People taking a single dose of medicine should not have any sexual contact for 7 days after treatment so the medicine will have time to work. If you are diagnosed with gonorrhea, any sex partners you have had within the previous 60 days need to be tested and treated. They should seek treatment whether they have symptoms or not to prevent the spread of, or reinfection with, gonorrhea.
Many people who have gonorrhea also have chlamydia, a similar sexually transmitted infection. When both infections are present, medicine treatment includes antibiotics that are effective in treating both chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Can gonorrhea be prevented?
Preventing an STI is easier than treating an infection after it occurs. You can take measures to reduce your risk of becoming infected with gonorrhea or another STI. You can also lower your risk of transmitting gonorrhea to your sex partner(s) by practising safe sex.
- Talk with your partner about STIs before beginning a sexual relationship. Find out whether he or she is at risk for an STI. Remember that it is quite possible to be infected with an STI without knowing it.
- Avoid sexual contact if you have symptoms of an STI or are being treated for an STI.
- Avoid sexual contact with anyone who has symptoms of an STI or who may have been exposed to an STI.
- Don't have more than one sexual relationship at a time. Your risk for an STI increases if you have several sex partners.
- Use condoms. Condom use reduces the risk of spreading or becoming infected with an STI. Condoms must be put on before beginning any sexual contact. Use condoms with a new partner until you are certain he or she does not have an STI and that neither of you has other sex partners. You can use male or female condoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Learning about gonorrhea:
Being diagnosed:
Getting treatment:
Living with gonorrhea:
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| Author: | Douglas Dana Kathe Gallagher, MSW | Last Updated: June 21, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Deborah A. Penava, BA, MD, FRCSC, MPH - Obstetrics and Gynecology | |
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