When they do develop symptoms, they tend to be mild or similar to other diagnoses, making them more difficult to identify. Gonorrhea symptoms can appear much like common vaginal yeast or bacterial infections.
Healthcare professionals can diagnose gonorrhea in several ways. They can take a sample of fluid from the symptomatic area penis, vagina, rectum, or throat with a swab and place it on a glass slide.
If cells react to the stain, gonorrhea may be diagnosed. This test may also be completed by a lab technician. A second method involves taking the same type of sample and placing it on a special dish.
This will be incubated under ideal growth conditions for several days. A colony of gonorrhea bacteria will grow if gonorrhea is present. A preliminary result may be ready within 24 hours. A final result will take up to 3 days. People with a vagina are at greater risk for long-term complications from an untreated transmission. Untreated, the bacteria may ascend up the reproductive tract and involve the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.
This condition is known as pelvic inflammatory disease PID and can cause severe and chronic pain and damage to the reproductive organs. Women may also develop blocking or scarring of the fallopian tubes, which can prevent future pregnancy or cause ectopic pregnancy.
An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. Gonorrhea may also pass to a newborn infant during delivery. People with a penis may experience scarring of the urethra. Gonorrhea may also cause a painful abscess to develop in the interior of the penis. This can cause reduced fertility or sterility. When and for how long is a person able to spread gonorrhea?
Does past infection with gonorrhea make a person immune? What is the treatment for gonorrhea? What happens if gonorrhea goes untreated?? What can be done to prevent the spread of gonorrhea? Sexual relations should be approached responsibly. Limit the number of your sex partners. Use a male or female condom. If you think you are infected, avoid any sexual contact and visit a local sexually transmitted disease STD clinic, hospital or your doctor. Notify all sexual contacts immediately so that they can be examined and treated by a health care provider.
A pregnant woman with gonorrhea can give the infection to her baby during childbirth. If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting gonorrhea:. If you are sexually active, have an honest and open talk with your health care provider and ask whether you should be tested for gonorrhea or other STDs. If you are a sexually active man who is gay, bisexual, or who has sex with men, you should be tested for gonorrhea every year.
If you are a sexually active woman younger than 25 years or an older woman with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection, you should be tested for gonorrhea every year. If you are pregnant and have gonorrhea, you can give the infection to your baby during delivery. This can cause serious health problems for your baby.
If you are pregnant, it is important that you talk to your health care provider so that you get the correct examination, testing, and treatment, as necessary. Treating gonorrhea as soon as possible will make health complications for your baby less likely. Some men with gonorrhea may have no symptoms at all. However, men who do have symptoms, may have:.
Most women with gonorrhea do not have any symptoms. Even when a woman has symptoms, they are often mild and can be mistaken for a bladder or vaginal infection. Symptoms in women can include:. Low-cost diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhea is usually available at local health departments and family planning clinics, such as Planned Parenthood. Some people are not comfortable seeing their usual doctor for sexually transmitted infection treatment.
Most counties have confidential clinics for diagnosing and treating gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections. Diagnosis of gonorrhea includes a medical history and a physical exam.
Your doctor may ask you the following questions. Several gonorrhea tests can be used to detect or confirm an infection. Your doctor will collect a sample of body fluid or urine to be tested for gonorrhea bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Most tests give results within a few days. Other sexually transmitted infections may be present with a gonorrhea infection. Your doctor may recommend testing for:. In the United States, your doctor must report to the state health department that you have gonorrhea. The U. You may want to consider being tested once a year for gonorrhea even though you don't have symptoms if you have increased risks for STIs.
These include having multiple sex partners or having sex without using a condom except if you're in a long-term relationship. Testing will allow gonorrhea to be quickly diagnosed and treated. This helps reduce the risk of transmitting gonorrhea and avoid complications of the infection. The CDC also recommends screening for pregnant women who engage in high-risk sexual behaviors to prevent them from transmitting gonorrhea to their babies.
If a pregnant woman is at high risk for gonorrhea, she may be tested again during the third trimester before delivery, to prevent transmitting the infection to her newborn. If you are prescribed more than one dose of an antibiotic, be sure to take your antibiotic exactly as directed.
If you miss doses or don't take the full course of medicine, the gonorrhea infection may not be cured. If your treatment is a single dose of antibiotic, wait at least 7 days after taking the dose before having any sexual contact.
Always use a condom when you have sex. This helps protect you from sexually transmitted infections. Symptoms that do not go away after treatment may be caused by another gonorrhea infection or treatment failure.
Certain strains of the gonorrhea bacteria have become resistant to some antibiotics and sulfa drugs. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, they no longer can be killed by that medicine. If you have been treated for gonorrhea and don't get better, you may be retested with a gonorrhea culture to see if there is bacterial resistance to the antibiotic you were taking.
If there is bacterial resistance, you will need another antibiotic to cure the infection. To prevent reinfection, don't have sex until any partner that might be infected is tested and treated. Some people who have gonorrhea also have chlamydia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC recommends that drug treatment for gonorrhea also include antibiotics that are effective in treating chlamydia.
For more information, see the topic Chlamydia. Pelvic inflammatory disease PID is a serious complication of gonorrhea that can lead to infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and ectopic pregnancy. To prevent PID, prompt treatment of gonorrhea is important. Treatment of DGI usually requires hospitalization and antibiotic treatment given intravenously IV or into a muscle intramuscularly, IM. You can take measures to reduce your risk of becoming infected with gonorrhea or another sexually transmitted infection STI.
You can also reduce the risk of transmitting gonorrhea to your sex partner s. Preventing a sexually transmitted infection STI is easier than treating an infection after it occurs. If you or your partner have had several sex partners within the past year, or you are a man who has unprotected sex with men, talk to your doctor about screening for gonorrhea and other STIs even if you don't have symptoms.
Condoms must be in place before beginning any sexual contact. Use condoms with a new partner every time you have sex, until you know from test results that he or she does not have an STI. You can use either male or female condoms. Even if you are using another birth control method to prevent pregnancy, you can use condoms to reduce your risk of getting an STI. Female condoms are available for women whose male partners do not have or will not use a male condom. Prescription antibiotic medicine normally cures gonorrhea infections.
Gonorrhea does not cause long-term problems if it is treated before any complications develop. But gonorrhea can lead to many complications if it is not treated. Finding out that you have gonorrhea may cause you to have negative thoughts or feelings about yourself or about sex. Talking to a counselor or joining a support group for people who have sexually transmitted infections STIs may be helpful.
Antibiotics , if taken exactly as directed, normally cure 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 complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease PID. Avoid all sexual contact while you are being treated for a sexually transmitted infection STI. People taking a single dose of medicine should not have any sexual contact for 7 days after treatment to give the medicine time to work.
Exposed sex partners need treatment whether they have symptoms or not. There is an increasing number of strains of gonorrhea that can't be killed by are resistant to certain antibiotics. If your doctor finds that your gonorrhea is resistant to the drug you are taking, he or she might prescribe another antibiotic to cure the infection. If you continue to have symptoms after you have been treated for gonorrhea, you will need to be retested with a gonorrhea culture to find out whether there is bacterial resistance to the antibiotic you were taking.
Treatment in a hospital with intravenous IV medicines may be needed for women who have pelvic inflammatory disease PID and men who have epididymitis. In many cases, these conditions can be treated outside of the hospital with oral antibiotics and close follow-up by your doctor. For more information, see the topic Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Kiley MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology. Author: Healthwise Staff. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
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What causes gonorrhea?
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