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

Gonorrhoea can be treated effectively with antibiotics, which you receive as an injection into your buttock muscle. We also advise telling your sexual partner(s) that you have tested positive. This reduces the chance of getting gonorrhoea again after treatment, because having had it does not protect you against a new infection.

Gonorrhoea is an STI caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. 

You can get gonorrhoea through sex without a condom (penis–vagina, penis–anus). You can also get it in your throat through oral sex. Using a condom is very effective at preventing gonorrhoea.

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

The chance of getting gonorrhoea from a single instance of unprotected sex is generally quite high. With repeated sexual contact with the same person, the chance of gonorrhoea 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 gonorrhoea less often than men. Around 30–40% of women experience symptoms. These often involve increased vaginal discharge. Less common are pain and a burning sensation when urinating, or bleeding after sex. 

Around one in ten women with untreated gonorrhoea is at risk of developing an ascending infection. This is called PID (pelvic inflammatory disease). It can lead to serious problems such as reduced fertility and persistent pain. 

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

Men develop symptoms in most cases if gonorrhoea is present in the penis. These symptoms mainly consist of pus-like discharge and a burning sensation or pain when urinating. 

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

In men, we test for gonorrhoea in the urine. It is important that we collect the first part of the urine stream and that, ideally, you have not urinated for 1 hour beforehand. Women take a swab from the vagina themselves. We then test for the presence of gonorrhoea using a PCR test. What is unique about ZIZ is that we use one of the fastest PCR tests available, which means we have a result in 90 minutes.

The average incubation period for gonorrhoea is 5 days. 

If you have no symptoms, we advise waiting at least two weeks so that the test is reliable. If you do have symptoms, you can test sooner. Testing immediately after a risk is not useful, because you are still within the incubation period.

Note: the incubation period is the time between infection and the point at which, in this case, gonorrhoea can be detected. 

We treat gonorrhoea with a single injection of antibiotics into the buttock muscle. Treatment at ZIZ is always free. 

If you have symptoms and it turns out that they were caused by gonorrhoea, 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 gonorrhoea spreading further and to prevent serious complications resulting from a gonorrhoea infection.

For gonorrhoea this is generally not necessary. 

If symptoms persist, another test is useful. It is also good to know that the test can remain positive for a few weeks after successful treatment. If you do want to test again, we advise waiting until 4–6 weeks afterwards.