Gonorrhea

What is Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix (opening to the womb), uterus (womb), and fallopian tubes (egg canals) in women, and in the urethra (urine canal) in women and men. The bacterium can also grow in the mouth, throat, eyes, and anus.

How Common is Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is a very common infectious disease. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year. Only about half of these infections are reported to CDC. In Illinois, more than 20,000 cases of the disease were reported in the state in 2005. It is estimated that another nearly 20,000 cases, mostly among teenagers and young adults, go unreported each year.

How can I get Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is most commonly spread during genital contact, but it can also be passed from the genitals of one partner to the throat of the other during oral sex. Gonorrhea of the rectum can occur in people who practice anal intercourse and may also occur in women due to the spread of the infection from the vaginal area when wiping with toilet paper.

Gonorrhea can be passed from an infected woman to her newborn infant during delivery. When the infection occurs in children, it is most commonly due to child abuse.

Gonorrhea is not passed through things like shaking hands or toilet seats.

What are the Symptoms of Gonorrhea?

Some men with gonorrhea may have no symptoms at all. However, some men have signs or symptoms that appear two to five days after infection; symptoms can take as long as 30 days to appear. Symptoms include:

• Yellowish-white discharge from the penis
• Burning or pain when urinating
• Urinating more often than usual
• Pain or swelling of the testicles

In women, the symptoms of gonorrhea are often mild, but most women who are infected have no symptoms. Even when a woman has symptoms, they can be so non-specific as to be mistaken for a bladder or vaginal infection. Symptoms can include:

• Abnormal discharge from the vagina that is yellow and sometimes bloody.
• Burning or pain when urinating
• When the infection spreads to the fallopian tubes, some women still have no signs or symptoms. Others may experience one or  more of the following symptoms, which can be an indication that the infection has progressed to PID: lower abdominal pain, lower back pain, pain during intercourse, bleeding between menstrual periods, nausea, fever

Symptoms of rectal infection in men and women include discharge, anal itching and sometimes painful bowel movements. Symptoms of gonorrhea in the throat may vary from a mild to a severe sore throat.

Are there complications of Gonorrhea?

Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems in both women and men.

Untreated Gonorrhea in men can lead to:

• Prostatitis: inflammation of the prostate gland
• Scarring of the urethra, which can cause a narrowing or closing of the urethra
• Infertility
• Epididymitis: inflammation of the epididymis, the elongated, sperm-carrying, cord-like structure along the posterior border of the testes

Untreated Gonorrhea in women can lead to:

• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID): PID can develop from several days to several months after infection with gonorrhea. About one million women each year in the United States develop PID. The symptoms may be quite mild or can be very severe and can include abdominal pain and fever. PID can lead to internal abscesses (pus-filled “pockets” that are hard to cure) and long-lasting, chronic pelvic pain. PID can damage the fallopian tubes enough to cause infertility or increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube.

• Chronic menstrual difficulties
• Postpartum endometritis: inflammation of the lining of the uterus after childbirth
• Miscarriage
• Cystitis: inflammation of the urinary bladder
• Mucopurulent cervicitis: characterized by a yellow discharge from the cervix.

In both men and women, gonorrhea can spread to the blood or joints. This is called Disseminated Gonococcal Infection (DGI), or gonococcal arthritis, and can be life threatening.

• DGI occurs when gonorrhea infection spreads to sites other than genitals, such as the blood, skin, heart, or joints.
• Symptoms of DGI include fever, multiple skin lesions, painful swelling of joints (arthritis), infection of the inner lining of the heart, and inflammation of the membrane covering the brain and spinal cord (meningitis).
• DGI can be successfully treated using antibiotic regimens similar to those recommended for treating uncomplicated gonorrhea.
 

Is Gonorrhea treatable?

YES! Gonorrhea is a bacteria and can be successfully cured in adolescents and adults with antibiotics. However, drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are increasing in many areas of the world, including the United States, and successful treatment of gonorrhea is becoming more difficult. Because many people with gonorrhea also have chlamydia, another STD, antibiotics for both infections are usually given together. Persons with gonorrhea should be tested for other STDs.

Can Gonorrhea be prevented?

YES! The surest way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain from sexual intercourse, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected.

• Using latex condoms consistently and correctly for vaginal and anal sex can reduce risk of transmission.
• Water-based spermicides are not recommended for the prevention of gonorrhea. Recent studies have shown that nonoxynol-9 (N-9), which is found in most water-based spermicides, is not effective in preventing gonorrhea.
• Since gonorrhea can be transmitted even if the penis or tongue does not completely enter the vagina, mouth or rectum, using latex condoms at the beginning of sexual contact until there is no longer skin contact is the best form of prevention.
• Several barrier methods can be used to reduce the risk of transmission of gonorrhea during oral sex. A non-lubricated condom can be used for mouth-to-penis contact. Household plastic wrap, a dental dam, or a latex condom cut-up and opened flat can reduce the risk of transmission during mouth-to-vulva/vagina or oral-anal (rimming) contact.

Any genital symptoms such as discharge or burning during urination or unusual sore or rash should be a signal to stop having sex and to see a doctor immediately.

If a person has been diagnosed and treated for gonorrhea, he or she should notify all recent sex partners so they can see a health care provider and be treated. This will reduce the risk that the sex partners will develop serious complications from gonorrhea and will also reduce the person’s risk of becoming re-infected. The person and all of his or her sex partners must avoid sex until they have completed their treatment for gonorrhea.

Need more Information?

Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/std
CDC-INFO Contact Center
1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)
Email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov