Gonorrhea

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea can be in the body for a long time with no signs. Possible symptoms are:

• Female at birth: pain or burning when peeing, fluid (discharge) from the vagina, pain, soreness, or discharge in the throat or rectum, fever, chills, vomiting, unusual menstrual bleeding, pain in the belly or pain with sex
• Male at birth: pain or burning when peeing, fluid (discharge) from the penis, pain, soreness, or discharge in the throat or rectum, fever, chills, swollen scrotum, pain around the bladder, groin, or testicles

How Is Gonorrhea Diagnosed?

You should be tested for gonorrhea before you’re treated. See your doctor or health care provider if you:

• Think you have gonorrhea.
• Had sex with someone who has gonorrhea (even if you don’t have symptoms).
• Have a new partner or more than one partner. You may need to be tested regularly at your yearly checkup.

At your visit, tell your doctor or health care provider if there’s any chance you may be pregnant. You may have one or more of these tests: pee (urine) sample, throat (pharyngeal) swab, vaginal swab, rectal swab.

How Is Gonorrhea Treated?

• Your doctor or health care provider will prescribe antibiotic medicine for gonorrhea. For the infection to completely go away, you must take all of the medicine.
• Wait for 1 week after you and your partner(s) are treated before having sex. During the first 7 days, you can still spread the infection.
• If you do not think your partner(s) will get treated on their own, tell your doctor or health care provider. They may write a prescription for your partner’s treatment.
• You and your partner(s) can be treated at:
  • Nationwide Children’s Hospital – call Central Scheduling at (614) 722-6200
  • Columbus Public Health – 240 Parsons Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215; call (614) 645-7774.
  • If you or your partner(s) live outside Columbus, call your local health department.

Why Treatment Is Important

If treated early, gonorrhea can be cured. If not treated, it can cause severe damage and spread to other parts of the body. Possible complications include:

• People born female: May lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID happens when the infection spreads to the uterus, fallopian tubes, or ovaries. PID can cause trouble getting pregnant, ectopic pregnancy (in the tube), and long-term pelvic pain.
• People born male: May irritate the tube that pee passes through (urethra). If not treated, it can spread to where sperm is stored (epididymis).

Preventing Future Infection

Not having sex (abstinence) is the best way to prevent STIs and HIV.

If you do have sex, some things may help prevent the spread of STIs:

• Limit your number of sexual partners and know their sexual history.
• Use a new condom each time you have sex, for the whole time you have sex.
• Keep an extra condom with you in case the one you're using breaks.
• Get tested for other STIs and HIV. Having gonorrhea can increase your risk of these other infections.

Follow-up

• You and your partner(s) must be treated.
• Come back for ALL follow-up appointments (espeically if symptoms don't go away).
• Get retested in 3 months. People who are infected with gonorrhea once are more likely to get it again.

More Information

• Talk with your primary care doctor about STIs and routine testing.
• Adolescent Medicine Clinic - (614) 722-2450
• AwkTalk™ 
• American Sexual Health Association (ASHA)

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