Also called the "clap" or "drip," gonorrhea is a contagious disease transmitted most often through sexual contact with an infected person. Gonorrhea may also be spread by contact with infected bodily fluids, so that a mother could pass on the infection to her newborn during childbirth. Both men and women can get gonorrhea. The infection is easily spread and occurs most often in people who have many sex partners.

What Causes Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in mucus membranes of the body. Gonorrhea bacteria can grow in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix (opening to the womb), uterus (womb) and fallopian tubes (egg canals) in women, and in the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body) in women and men. The bacteria can also grow in the mouth, throat, and anus.

How Common Is Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is a very common infectious disease. In the U.S. each year, about 700,000 people are infected with gonorrhea, and about 75% of all reported gonorrhea is found in younger persons aged 15 to 29. The highest rates of infection are usually found in 15- to 19-year-old women and 20- to 24-year-old men.

How Do I Know If I Have Gonorrhea?

Not all people infected with gonorrhea have symptoms, so knowing when to seek treatment can be tricky. When symptoms do occur, they are often within 2-10 days after exposure, but can take up to 30 days and include the following:

Gonorrhea Symptoms in women

• Greenish yellow or whitish discharge from the vagina
• Lower abdominal or pelvic pain
• Burning when urinating
• Conjunctivitis (red, itchy eyes)
• Bleeding between periods
• Spotting after intercourse
• Swelling of the vulva (vulvitis)
• Burning in the throat (due to oral sex)
• Swollen glands in the throat (due to oral sex)

In some women symptoms are so mild that they escape unnoticed.

Many women with gonorrhea discharge think they have a yeast infection and self-treat with yeast infection medications purchased over-the-counter. Because vaginal discharge can be a sign of a number of different problems, it is best to always seek the advice of a doctor to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

Gonorrhea Symptoms in men

• Greenish yellow or whitish discharge from the penis
• Burning when urinating
• Burning in the throat (due to oral sex)
• Painful or swollen testicles
• Swollen glands in the throat (due to oral sex)

In men, symptoms usually appear 2-14 days after infection.

How Is Gonorrhea Diagnosed?

Your doctor will use a swab to take a sample of fluid from the urethra in men or from the cervix in women. The specimen will then be sent to a laboratory to be analyzed. You also may be given a throat or anal culture to see if the infection is in your throat or anus. There are other tests which check a urine sample for the presence of the bacteria. You may need to wait for several days for your tests to come back from the lab.

Gonorrhea and chlamydia, another common sexually transmitted disease, often occur together, so you may be tested and treated for both.