Patient Basics: Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by bacteria. People also call it “the clap.” Many people who have it feel fine, so testing is the only way to know for sure. A shot of antibiotic cures it, and treating it early prevents lasting harm.

Key points

• Gonorrhea spreads through vaginal, anal and oral sex, and from a mother to her baby during birth.
• It can infect the genitals, rectum, throat and eyes.
• Many people, especially women, have no symptoms.
• A urine test or swab finds it. The usual treatment is one antibiotic shot.
• Without treatment, it can lead to pelvic pain, trouble getting pregnant and, rarely, infection of the blood and joints.
• Your sex partners need testing and treatment too, or the infection can pass back to you.

How gonorrhea spreads

The germ is a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It lives in the warm, moist linings of the body: the tube that carries urine (the urethra), the cervix, the rectum, the throat and the surface of the eye. It passes from one person to another through contact with these areas during sex, even without ejaculation. A baby can catch it from the mother’s birth canal.

It does not spread through hugging, sharing cups, toilet seats or swimming pools. The bacteria die quickly outside the body.

Anyone who is sexually active can get gonorrhea. It is most common in people aged 15 to 24, people with a new partner or several partners, and men who have sex with men.

Gonorrhea symptoms

When symptoms happen, they usually start within 2 weeks of contact. Many people never notice any.

In women

• More discharge from the vagina than usual, which may be yellow or green
• Burning when you pee
• Bleeding between periods or after sex
• Pain in the lower belly

These signs are often mild and easy to mistake for a bladder or yeast infection.

In men

• A white, yellow or green drip from the tip of the penis
• Burning or pain when you pee
• Pain or swelling in one testicle (less common)

In the rectum and throat

An infection in the rectum can cause itching, soreness, discharge, bleeding or pain with bowel movements. Often it causes nothing at all. A throat infection rarely causes more than a mild sore throat.

Gonorrhea in the eye

The bacteria can reach the eye on fingers that touched infected fluid. The eye turns red, swollen and painful, with a heavy discharge of pus. This needs care the same day, because it can damage the clear front of the eye (the cornea) within days. Newborns can get a gonorrhea eye infection during birth. That’s why babies born in US hospitals get antibiotic eye ointment soon after delivery.

Effects of untreated gonorrhea

• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). In women, the infection can climb into the uterus and fallopian tubes. This can cause long-term pelvic pain, scarring that blocks the tubes, trouble getting pregnant, and a pregnancy that grows outside the uterus (ectopic pregnancy).
• Epididymitis. In men, the coiled tube behind the testicle can become painful and swollen. Rarely this affects fertility.
• Spread through the blood. In a small number of people, the bacteria get into the bloodstream (disseminated gonococcal infection). This causes fever, painful or swollen joints, and a rash of small red bumps or pus-filled spots, often on the hands, wrists or feet. It needs hospital care.
• Higher risk of HIV. Gonorrhea makes it easier to catch or pass on HIV.
• Problems in pregnancy. It raises the chance of early birth and can infect the baby’s eyes.

Testing for gonorrhea

The most common test checks a urine sample for the genetic material of the bacteria (a nucleic acid amplification test, or NAAT). Women may instead have a swab of the vagina, which they can often take themselves in private. If you have oral or anal sex, ask for throat and rectal swabs too, because a urine test won’t find an infection there. Results usually take a few days.

Gonorrhea and chlamydia are often tested together. Your doctor may also offer tests for syphilis and HIV.

Testing is recommended even without symptoms for:

• Sexually active women under 25, once a year
• Women 25 and older with a new partner, several partners, or a partner who has an STI
• Men who have sex with men, at least once a year and more often if they have several partners
• Pregnant people who are at risk

How gonorrhea is treated

The standard treatment is one shot of the antibiotic ceftriaxone into a muscle. If chlamydia hasn’t been ruled out, you’ll also take doxycycline pills for a week. People with a serious allergy to ceftriaxone get other antibiotics. Newer antibiotic pills for genital gonorrhea, such as gepotidacin and zoliflodacin, may be an option in some cases. Ask your doctor what is available.

Gonorrhea has become resistant to many older antibiotics over the years. Don’t treat it with leftover pills or medicine from a friend.

After treatment:

• Don’t have sex for 7 days after your treatment, and until your symptoms are gone and your partners are treated.
• Tell anyone you’ve had sex with in the past 60 days so they can get tested. In many states, your doctor can give you medicine to pass on to a partner.
• Get tested again in about 3 months. Catching it again is common.
• If you had a throat infection, you may need a repeat test 1 to 2 weeks after treatment to make sure it’s gone.
• See your doctor again if symptoms last more than a few days after treatment.

Lowering your risk

• Use a condom every time you have vaginal, anal or oral sex. A dental dam can protect during oral sex on a vagina or anus.
• Fewer partners means less risk.
• Get tested regularly if you’re in a group where testing is advised, and ask new partners to get tested too.
• Some men who have sex with men and some transgender women may be offered doxycycline after sex (doxy-PEP). It lowers the chance of some STIs, though it works less well against gonorrhea than against syphilis and chlamydia.

When to see a doctor

• Discharge, burning when you pee, or bleeding between periods
• A partner tells you they have an STI
• You’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy and may have been exposed
• Pain or swelling in a testicle

Get care right away for a red, painful eye with pus, for severe belly or pelvic pain with fever, or for fever with painful joints or a spotty rash.

Common questions about gonorrhea

Can gonorrhea go away on its own?

Don’t count on it. Without antibiotics, the infection can last for months, keep spreading to partners and cause damage you can’t feel. Even if symptoms fade, the bacteria may still be there. One shot cures it, so getting tested and treated is the safer path.

Can gonorrhea cause a rash?

Yes, but only rarely. When gonorrhea spreads into the blood, it can cause a few small red bumps or pus-filled spots, usually on the hands, wrists, ankles or feet. Fever and painful joints often come with it. This needs care right away and is treated in the hospital.

Can you get gonorrhea from kissing?

It’s possible but not common. A throat infection can pass through deep kissing, though oral sex is a far more common route. Gonorrhea doesn’t spread through sharing cups, towels or toilet seats, because the bacteria don’t survive long outside the body.

Can you get gonorrhea more than once?

Yes. Having it once doesn’t protect you, and catching it again is common, often from a partner who wasn’t treated. That’s why both partners need treatment, why you should wait 7 days before sex, and why a repeat test about 3 months later is advised.

Questions to ask your doctor

• Which parts of my body should be tested?
• Should I also be tested for chlamydia, syphilis and HIV?
• How and when should I tell my partners?
• Can you give me medicine for my partner?
• When should I come back for a repeat test?

Learn more

• About gonorrhea (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Gonorrhea (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine)

This guide is general information and doesn’t replace advice from your own doctor. Last updated October 2026.