How can gonorrhea be passed

Medication for gonorrhea should not be shared with anyone. Although medication will stop the infection, it will not undo any permanent damage caused by the disease. It is becoming harder to treat some gonorrhea, as drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are increasing. If your symptoms continue for more than a few days after receiving treatment, you should return to a health care provider to be checked again. You should wait seven days after finishing all medications before having sex.

To avoid getting infected with gonorrhea again or spreading gonorrhea to your partner s , you and your sex partner s should avoid having sex until you have each completed treatment.

Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems in both women and men. In women, untreated gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease PID. Some of the complications of PID are. In men, gonorrhea can cause a painful condition in the tubes attached to the testicles. In rare cases, this may cause a man to be sterile, or prevent him from being able to father a child.

Rarely, untreated gonorrhea can also spread to your blood or joints. This condition can be life-threatening. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate.

Minus Related Pages. Anyone who is sexually active can get gonorrhea. Who is at risk for gonorrhea? What are the signs and symptoms of gonorrhea? What are the complications of gonorrhea? Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems in both women and men. What about gonorrhea and HIV? How does gonorrhea affect a pregnant woman and her baby? Who should be tested for gonorrhea? People who have gonorrhea should also be tested for other STDs.

How is gonorrhea diagnosed? What is the treatment for gonorrhea? What about partners? How can gonorrhea be prevented? Where can I get more information? Sexually transmitted infections among US women and men: Prevalence and incidence estimates, Sex Transm Dis ; in press. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, Asymptomatic gonorrhea in men.

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Obstet Gynecol , 45 2 , — Anorectal gonococcal infection. Ann Intern Med , 86, — Clinical spectrum of pharyngeal gonococcal infection. N Engl J Med , 4 , — Bro-Jorgensen A, Jensen T. Gonococcal pharyngeal infections: report of cases.

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J Urol , 6 , — Disseminated gonococcal infection. Fluid from the seminal vesicles and prostate gland combine with sperm to make semen.

The penis ejaculates semen during sexual intercourse. The ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix and vagina vaginal canal make up the female reproductive system. In many cases, gonorrhea infection causes no symptoms. Symptoms, however, can affect many sites in your body, but commonly appear in the genital tract.

Make an appointment with your doctor if you notice any troubling signs or symptoms, such as a burning sensation when you urinate or a pus-like discharge from your penis, vagina or rectum. Also make an appointment with your doctor if your partner has been diagnosed with gonorrhea. You may not experience signs or symptoms that prompt you to seek medical attention.

But without treatment, you can reinfect your partner even after he or she has been treated for gonorrhea. Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The gonorrhea bacteria are most often passed from one person to another during sexual contact, including oral, anal or vaginal intercourse. Sexually active women younger than 25 and men who have sex with men are at increased risk of getting gonorrhea.

Consider regular gonorrhea screening. Annual screening is recommended for sexually active women younger than 25 and for older women at increased risk of infection. This includes women who have a new sex partner, more than one sex partner, a sex partner with other partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection.

To avoid getting gonorrhea again, abstain from sex until after you and your sex partner have completed treatment and after symptoms are gone.