Gonorrhoea is an STD caused by a bacterium. At ZIZ we find it in around one in fourteen people who get tested, most often in men who have sex with men. In recent years, though, there has been a sharp rise in gonorrhoea among heterosexual young people. In men, it can cause the classic discharge from the penis. In women, it causes symptoms less often, but if the infection spreads upwards it can sometimes lead to scarring, which can make it harder to get pregnant.

Gonorrhoea is treated effectively with antibiotics, given as an injection into the buttock muscle. We also advise telling your sexual partner(s) that you've tested positive. This lowers your chance of catching gonorrhoea again after treatment, since having had it gives you no protection against a new infection.

Gonorrhoea is an STD caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. 

You can get gonorrhoea through sex without a condom, both vaginal (penis–vagina) and anal (penis–anus). You can also get it in your throat through oral sex. Condoms are very effective at preventing gonorrhoea.

The detection rate for gonorrhea at ZIZ is around 7%, so about one in fourteen.

The chance of getting gonorrhea from a single instance of unprotected sex is generally quite high. With repeated sexual contact with the same person, the chance of gonorrhea being passed on naturally increases quickly.

A few studies have calculated the chance of transmission. These were estimated at: 

Man to woman (from penis to vagina) 50%
Woman to man (from vagina to penis): 20%
Man to woman/man through oral sex (from penis to throat): 60%
Man to woman/man (from penis to anus): 80%
Man/woman to man (from anus to penis): 2%
Man/woman to man (from throat to penis): 8%

Not a great deal of research has been done into this. You can carry an untreated infection for several weeks to months. 

One study showed that the average duration of untreated gonorrhoea in the throat was 16 weeks  (Barbee, 2021). 

Yes, having had an infection does not protect you against a new one. This is another reason why it is important to tell your partners and to avoid sex for at least one week after your treatment. This prevents the ping-pong effect, where sexual partners keep reinfecting each other with gonorrhoea.

Women have symptoms of gonorrhea less often than men — around 30–40% notice anything. The most common sign is increased vaginal discharge. Less common are pain or a burning sensation when urinating, and bleeding after sex.

Around one in ten women with untreated gonorrhea is at risk of the infection travelling upwards, causing PID (pelvic inflammatory disease). This can lead to serious problems such as reduced fertility and persistent pain.

An infection in the anus or throat is often present without causing any symptoms.

n most cases, men develop symptoms when gonorrhea is present in the penis. These are mainly a pus-like discharge and a burning sensation or pain when urinating.

An infection in the anus or throat is often present without causing any symptoms.

In men, we test for gonorrhea using urine. It's important that we collect the first part of the urine stream, and ideally you should not have urinated for an hour beforehand. Women take a swab from the vagina themselves. We then check for gonorrhea using a PCR test. What makes ZIZ unique is that we use one of the fastest PCR tests available, giving us a result within 30-90 minutes.

If you have no symptoms, we advise waiting at least two weeks after a risk contact, so the test is reliable. If you do have symptoms, you can test sooner. Testing straight after a risk contact isn't useful, because you're still within the incubation period.

Note: the incubation period is the time between infection and the point at which gonorrhea can be detected.

We treat gonorrhea with a single injection of antibiotics into the buttock muscle. Treatment at ZIZ is always included without additonal costs. 

If you have symptoms and it turns out that they were caused by gonorrhea, we advise telling your sexual partners. 

Men with symptoms: all sexual partners from 2 weeks before the symptoms started (or longer, if the most recent sexual partner was further back). 

All women and the group of men without symptoms: all sexual partners from the past 3 months.

It is important to tell your partners in order to prevent gonorrhea spreading further and to prevent serious complications resulting from a gonorrhoea infection.

For gonorrhea, a test of cure is generally not necessary. If symptoms persist, though, another test is useful. It's also good to know that the test can stay positive for a few weeks after successful treatment, so if you do want to test again, we advise waiting 4–6 weeks.