Treatment:

There are two goals in treating a sexually transmitted disease, especially one as easily spread as gonorrhea. The first is to cure the infection in the patient. The second is to locate and test all of the other people the person had sexual contact with and treat them to prevent further spread of the disease.

Never treat yourself without being seen by your doctor first. Your health care provider will determine the best and most up-to-date treatment.

About half of the women with gonorrhea are also infected with chlamydia, another very common sexually transmitted infection. Chlamydia is treated at the same time as a gonorrhea infection.

You should receive the hepatitis B vaccine. If you are younger than 26, you also need the HPV vaccine.

A follow-up visit 7 days after treatment is important if joint pain, skin rash, or more severe pelvic or belly pain is present. Tests will be done to make sure the infection is gone.

All sexual contacts of the person with gonorrhea should be contacted and tested. This helps prevent further spread of the disease. In some places you may be able to take counseling information and medicines to your sexual partner yourself. In other places, the health department will contact your partner.

Expectations (prognosis):

A gonorrhea infection that has not spread to the bloodstream or other areas almost always can be cured with antibiotics. Gonorrhea that has spread is a more serious infection but almost always gets better with treatment.

Complications:

Complications in women may include:

• Salpingitis (scarring of the fallopian tubes), which can lead to problems getting pregnant or ectopic pregnancy
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Infertility (inability to become pregnant)
• Pregnant women with severe gonorrhea may pass the disease to their baby while in the womb or during delivery

Complications in men may include:

• Scarring or narrowing of the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body (See: Urethral stricture)
• Abscess (collection of pus around the urethra)

Complications in both men and women may include:

• Joint infections
• Heart valve infection
• Meningitis

Calling your health care provider:

If you have symptoms suggestive of gonorrhea, you should call your health care provider immediately. Most state-sponsored clinics will diagnose and treat STDs without charge.