Girls, Guys & Gonorrhea: Facts and information about the common sexually transmitted infection

Got gonorrhea? You don’t want it. But if you do have it, you need to deal with it. NOW.

Unfortunately, you might have it and not know it: According to Planned Parenthood, 80% of the women (who have the greatest risk of contracting the infection) and 10% of the men with gonorrhea show no symptoms. So if there’s any chance you could have gonorrhea — which is spread through vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse — you should get tested as soon as possible.

If you do have symptoms — and many people with gonorrhea do not — here’s what you might see, according to Planned Parenthood.

Women may experience frequent or burning urination; menstrual irregularities; pelvic or abdominal pain; pain during intercourse or gynecological examination; yellowish or greenish discharge from the vagina; swelling or tenderness of the vulva; or arthritic pain. Symptoms would appear within ten days of infection.

Men may experience pus-like discharge from the urethra or pain during urination. These symptoms can show up one to 14 days after infection.

Left untreated, gonorrhea, a bacterial infection, can lead to

sterility, arthritis, and heart disease in both men and women. Women with gonorrhea can also develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancy (when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, possibly leading to hemorrhage, infection, complete infertility, or even death). If a woman with gonorrhea gets pregnant, the baby is at risk for premature labor and stillbirth. The baby is also at risk for eye infections.

As if the possible effects of gonorrhea aren’t scary enough, many people with gonorrhea also have chlamydia, another sexually transmitted infection that can lead to nasty complications.

If you’re sexually active, you can protect yourself from gonorrhea by using a condom — every time you have sex. But remember that nothing except abstinence is 100% effective, so “schedule regular check-ups and make sure your doctor does a routine screening for gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections,” says Susan Kaufman, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

Getting tested for gonorrhea isn’t a big deal. All it takes is a quick trip to a doctor or health clinic, where they will take a culture from your cervix, throat, urethra, or rectum and examine your discharge under a microscope.

A simple test is definitely worthwhile — and don’t think gonorrhea can’t happen to you. “The rates of sexually transmitted infections are absolutely increasing among young people,” Kaufman says. And gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections — only chlamydia is more common.

If you are diagnosed with gonorrhea, treatment is fairly simple: You and your partner(s) are given oral antibiotics. Just make sure that if you also have chlamydia, you’re treated for both infections at the same time. Different antibiotics are required; according to Kaufman, various strains of gonorrhea have become resistant to several therapies. Double check with your doc to make sure that you are taking the right medication.

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Gonorrhea often goes hand in hand with another sexually transmitted disease, chlamydia. As with gonorrhea, people with chlamydia often show no symptoms, so getting screened for chlamydia is important. Chlamydia can lead to a wide range of problems, from pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal scarring in women to lesions on the penis, ulcers in the throat or mouth,or conjunctivitis in men. And that’s not the whole list — so make sure you screen early and often, and if you do have it, start treatment right away.

If you catch the infection in time and don’t suffer any complications, Kaufman says, gonorrhea is 100% curable.

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