Gonorrhea
A common sexually transmitted bacterial infection that can affect the genitals, rectum, throat, eyes, joints, and bloodstream.
What causes Gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. It spreads through vaginal, anal, or oral sex and can pass from a pregnant person to a baby during childbirth.
Symptoms and what to notice
Many infections cause no symptoms. Possible signs include burning urination, genital discharge, bleeding between periods, pelvic or testicular pain, rectal pain or discharge, sore throat, or eye redness and drainage.
How long can it last?
Symptoms can begin within several days after exposure, but infection may remain unnoticed for weeks or longer. Correct antibiotics can cure gonorrhea, but permanent damage from untreated infection may not be reversible. Reinfection is common.
How serious is Gonorrhea?
Untreated gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, epididymitis, chronic pelvic pain, neonatal eye infection, and disseminated infection involving the skin, joints, blood, heart, or nervous system. It can also increase HIV transmission risk.
Treatment and management
CDC recommends a single intramuscular ceftriaxone dose for uncomplicated gonorrhea, with the dose based on body weight. If chlamydia has not been excluded, doxycycline is also used when appropriate. Partners need evaluation and treatment, and patients should avoid sex for seven days after treatment and until partners are treated.
Vaccine: who and when?
No FDA-approved vaccine prevents gonorrhea. Research is ongoing, but prevention currently depends on condoms, screening, prompt treatment, partner services, and reducing exposure.
Cost note: No vaccine price applies. Testing and treatment costs vary by clinic, public-health program, insurance, and whether additional STI testing is needed.
Trusted source
Patient cost varies by insurance, provider, location, and eligibility. Coverage and public-health access differ, so listed prices are examples rather than guaranteed patient prices. This page is for general education and does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, vaccination assessment, or treatment.
Gonorrhea: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Prevention, and Vaccine Information
Gonorrhea is one of the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infections in the United States. It may infect the cervix, urethra, rectum, throat, or eyes and often causes no recognizable symptoms, especially in women and with throat or rectal infection. Silent infection can still spread and cause complications, making screening an important part of sexual healthcare. Gonorrhea is curable, but antimicrobial resistance has narrowed reliable treatment choices.
Important: This page is for general education. It does not replace diagnosis, treatment, vaccination advice, or emergency care from a qualified healthcare professional.
Quick Facts
| Topic | Current information |
|---|---|
| Cause | Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. It spreads through vaginal, anal, or oral sex and can pass from a pregnant person to a baby during childbirth. |
| Main symptoms | Many infections cause no symptoms. Possible signs include burning urination, genital discharge, bleeding between periods, pelvic or testicular pain, rectal pain or discharge, sore throat, or eye redness and drainage. |
| Typical course | Symptoms can begin within several days after exposure, but infection may remain unnoticed for weeks or longer. Correct antibiotics can cure gonorrhea, but permanent damage from untreated infection may not be reversible. Reinfection is common. |
| Treatment | CDC recommends a single intramuscular ceftriaxone dose for uncomplicated gonorrhea, with the dose based on body weight. If chlamydia has not been excluded, doxycycline is also used when appropriate. Partners need evaluation and treatment, and patients should avoid sex for seven days after treatment and until partners are treated. |
| Vaccine status | No FDA-approved vaccine prevents gonorrhea. Research is ongoing, but prevention currently depends on condoms, screening, prompt treatment, partner services, and reducing exposure. |
History and Public-Health Importance
Neisseria gonorrhoeae has repeatedly developed resistance to medicines once used successfully against it, including sulfonamides, penicillin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, and increasingly macrolides. U.S. surveillance now tracks susceptibility patterns closely. Current CDC guidance relies on ceftriaxone for uncomplicated infection and calls for culture and susceptibility testing when treatment failure is suspected. This history makes correct dosing, partner treatment, retesting, and avoidance of unnecessary antibiotics essential.
What Causes Gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. It spreads through vaginal, anal, or oral sex and can pass from a pregnant person to a baby during childbirth.
The bacteria infect mucous membranes and spread through sexual contact with an infected penis, vagina, mouth, or anus. Ejaculation is not required. A pregnant person can transmit infection during birth, potentially causing severe eye disease in the newborn. Gonorrhea does not spread through toilet seats, casual touching, or ordinary household contact. Barrier methods lower risk but cannot eliminate it completely.
Symptoms and Typical Course
Many infections cause no symptoms. Possible signs include burning urination, genital discharge, bleeding between periods, pelvic or testicular pain, rectal pain or discharge, sore throat, or eye redness and drainage.
Men with urethral infection may develop burning urination and white, yellow, or green discharge. Women may have mild urinary symptoms, increased discharge, or bleeding that resembles another condition. Rectal infection can cause itching, soreness, bleeding, or painful bowel movements; throat infection is usually silent. Without treatment, symptoms can improve while infection persists. A test is the only reliable way to know.
Complications and Who Is at Higher Risk
Untreated gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, epididymitis, chronic pelvic pain, neonatal eye infection, and disseminated infection involving the skin, joints, blood, heart, or nervous system. It can also increase HIV transmission risk.
In women, ascending infection can produce pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal scarring, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. In men, epididymitis can rarely affect fertility. Disseminated gonococcal infection may cause fever, pustular skin lesions, tenosynovitis, arthritis, endocarditis, or meningitis. Newborn eye infection can threaten vision. Coinfection with chlamydia and other STIs is common, so broader testing is often appropriate.
How It Is Diagnosed
Nucleic acid amplification testing is commonly performed on urine or swabs from the cervix, vagina, urethra, rectum, or throat according to exposure. Testing every relevant site matters because infection at one site does not reliably predict another. Culture is particularly important for suspected treatment failure because it allows antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Screening recommendations depend on age, anatomy, pregnancy, partners, and sexual practices.
Treatment and Recovery
CDC recommends a single intramuscular ceftriaxone dose for uncomplicated gonorrhea, with the dose based on body weight. If chlamydia has not been excluded, doxycycline is also used when appropriate. Partners need evaluation and treatment, and patients should avoid sex for seven days after treatment and until partners are treated.
For uncomplicated cervical, urethral, or rectal infection, CDC recommends ceftriaxone 500 mg intramuscularly once for people under 150 kg and 1 g for those at or above 150 kg. Doxycycline is added for seven days if chlamydia has not been excluded and is appropriate for the patient. Pharyngeal infection needs a test of cure 7 to 14 days after treatment. Everyone treated should be retested at about three months because reinfection is common.
Vaccine Information
No FDA-approved vaccine prevents gonorrhea. Research is ongoing, but prevention currently depends on condoms, screening, prompt treatment, partner services, and reducing exposure.
There is no licensed gonorrhea vaccine. Scientists are studying immune responses and whether some meningococcal B vaccines might provide partial cross-protection, but these products are not approved or recommended as gonorrhea vaccines. Claims that an existing shot guarantees gonorrhea protection are incorrect.
Prevention
Use condoms consistently, reduce the number of concurrent partners, discuss recent STI testing, obtain recommended screening, and seek testing after a known exposure. People with a positive result should notify recent partners so they can be evaluated and treated. Expedited partner therapy may be available in some jurisdictions when a partner cannot obtain timely care.
When to Seek Medical Care
Seek prompt care for pelvic or testicular pain, fever with joint pain or rash, pregnancy with possible exposure, eye symptoms after sexual exposure, or symptoms that persist after treatment. Suspected treatment failure should be reported and evaluated with culture rather than treated repeatedly without testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can gonorrhea have no symptoms?
Yes. Many genital infections and most throat infections are silent, yet they can still spread and cause complications.
Can gonorrhea be cured?
Yes, appropriate antibiotics usually cure it. Treatment cannot reverse permanent damage that has already occurred.
Can a person get gonorrhea again?
Yes. Prior infection does not create reliable immunity. Reinfection is common when partners are not treated or a new exposure occurs.
When is sex safe after treatment?
CDC advises waiting seven days after treatment and until all partners have completed treatment and symptoms have resolved.
Key Takeaway
Gonorrhea is often silent, curable, and increasingly antibiotic-resistant. Testing, correct ceftriaxone treatment, partner care, and retesting are the most effective controls while vaccine research continues.
Medical, treatment, and vaccine information was reviewed against official U.S. public-health guidance available through September 2026.