What causes Gonorrhoea?
It’s triggered by a bacterium called neisseria gonorrhoea, which infects the reproductive tract. So the uterus, cervix and fallopian tubes in women, and the urethra in men and women. It can also infect the mucous membranes that you find in your throat, eyes, mouth and rectum.
While sexual activity doesn’t cause gonorrhoea, it does transmit the infection from person to person if one sexual partner has it. Left untreated, gonorrhoea can spread through multiple people who can then keep passing it on.
What are the symptoms of gonorrhoea?
Around one in ten men who are infected and approximately five in ten infected women won’t get any symptoms, meaning that the condition can go untreated for lengthy periods of time.
If you do get symptoms, they may include the following.
Symptoms in women
- green or yellow vaginal discharge
- abdominal pain
- pain or burning passing urine
- bleeding between periods, heavier periods and bleeding following sex (less common)
Symptoms in men
- green or yellow discharge from the penis tip
- swelling of the foreskin
- pain or burning passing urine
- testicular pain (rare)
You can also get an infection in your rectum if you have unprotected anal or oral sex, which can cause pain or discharge. Eye infections can occur too, and may trigger swelling, pain and discharge. Throat infections can also develop, but they don’t tend to result in symptoms.
Symptoms of gonorrhoea usually show within two to five days of exposure, but it may be up to ten days before you get symptoms. If you’re made aware of a sexual partner who has had a confirmed case of gonorrhoea, you should get tested.
Can gonorrhoea lead to other problems?
Yes. Without treatment, gonorrhoea can spread elsewhere in the body and lead to serious complications. And the more occasions on which you get gonorrhoea, the higher the risk of severe problems. If you’re a woman, gonorrhoea can infect the reproductive system and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). It’s reckoned that this occurs in between 10 and 20% of women who don’t receive treatment. PID can result in pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic pregnancy.
Gonorrhoea can also lead to miscarriage, your baby being born with conjunctivitis and premature labour if you’re pregnant. And there’s a risk of permanent eye damage if the baby isn’t treated promptly. In men, the infection can trigger a painful infection in your testicles and the prostate gland too, which can affect your fertility.
Some types of gonorrhoea can be harder to treat, which can have an effect on your health and wellbeing.
As well as the physical aspect of gonorrhoea, being diagnosed with an STI can have an emotional impact too. You may experience feelings of embarrassment, guilt or a loss of self-confidence (or all three), particularly when informing any sexual partners. It’s important that you speak to any sexual partners who may have been exposed to the infection so that they can also seek treatment if they have it. Gonorrhoea is very common, and it’s usually easy to treat.
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