What is gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococci), which may cause an infection in the urinary tract, cervix, rectum, and the throat.

How do people get gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is transmitted by sexual intercourse but can also be transmitted through oral sex.

How frequent is gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is a rare disease in Denmark but unfortunately there is an increase in cases. Gonorrhea is more common in eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

 Who is particularly at risk of getting gonorrhea?

• Men who have unprotected sex with men
• People who have unprotected sex with people from eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Symptoms and complications

Symptoms may appear 3 to 7 days after infection.

Men:

• Yellow discharge from the urinary tract
• A burning sensation when urinating.

Women:

• Abnormal vaginal discharge
• A burning sensation when urinating
• Abdominal pain.

Some may not experience any symptoms at all. In fact, gonorrhea is often asymptomatic in women.

In women, the gonococci bacterium can spread to the fallopian tubes causing pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic inflammatory disease can cause serious reproductive health complications, including infertility and higher risk of extrauterine pregnancies.

If a pregnant woman has gonorrhea, she may transmit the infection to her child during birth as the child passes through the birth canal.

In men, the infection can spread to the epididymis (epididymitis), which may cause a one-sided sore swelling of the scrotum. An untreated infection can spread to both epididymis and in worst cases lead to infertility.

In rare cases gonorrhea can spread to the blood and cause disseminated gonococcal infection. This is usually characterized by a triad of painful and swollen joints, inflammation in one or multiple tendons, and skin rash.

Examination

The doctor can often diagnose gonorrhea by microscopic examination of the discharge. However, the doctor will always take a swab specimen from the throat, rectum, urinary tract, and cervix.

Alternatively, women may perform a “self-swap-test” or a urinary test for men, depending on your risk factors.

The swab specimen or the urinary test will be sent to a laboratory for analysis and the results will be available within a week.

Treatment of gonorrhea

Gonorrhea can be cured with a single intramuscular dose of antibiotics (an injection). Kindly inform the doctor about any kind of medical allergies.

The treatment will work within a few days, but we recommend that you avoid any sexual contact until you have completed the treatment and receive the follow up test results 2-3 weeks after (see below).

Side effects of gonorrhea treatment

A few may experience mild stomachache and diarrhea. In rare cases, an allergic reaction may occur causing a rash, itching, hives, and shortness of breath. You must therefore stay for observation in the clinic for 30 minutes after the injection.

Prevention

Gonorrhea is a very contagious disease. Therefore, it is important that any current or past sexual partners within the last 4 weeks are informed and tested if you have tested positive for gonorrhea and do have symptoms. If you have tested positive for gonorrhea and do not have any symptoms you must inform your sexual partners within the past 3 months, even if they do not have any symptoms.  

Remember to use protection to avoid future infections.

Control visit

To ensure that the treatment has been efficient we recommend a control test 2-3 weeks after your treatment. This can be done by your general practitioner, but you are also very welcome here in the clinic.