Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea are thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when peeing, and in women bleeding between periods. There are long term implications if gonorrhoea is left untreated, such as infertility, chronic pain, and pelvic inflammation or abscesses. Gonorrhoea is easily passed on through unprotected sex. It is usually treated with a short course of antibiotics. You will most likely be offered treatment if you have a positive test for gonorrhoea, there is a high chance of having gonorrhoea but you don’t have a test result yet, or your partner has had a positive gonorrhoea test.
Treatment involves an antibiotic injection (usually in your buttocks) and antibiotic tablets. If you have symptoms, it can take up to 2 weeks for these to get better after treatment.
You must tell all recent sexual partners if you have a positive gonorrhoea test. You should have a repeat test for gonorrhoea 2 weeks after treatment to make sure the infection is cleared, and you should avoid having sex until you get a confirmed negative test result.
Ideally, people with gonorrhoea should be treated by a specialist Sexual Health or Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinic but if it is not possible for you to access this service within a reasonable time then treatment and follow up testing can be provided at Northway Clinic.
Usual Treatment – Ceftriaxone (Rocephin) 1g IM injection – £40. If your doctor thinks you should also be treated for Chlamydia at the same time, you will be given antibiotic tablets for this at no extra cost.