On this page
What is Gonorrhoea?
- Gonorrhoea is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by bacteria
- Gonorrhoea is usually passed from person to person through vaginal, oral or anal sex without a condom
- Gonorrhoea can be passed on from contact with a partner’s genitals, even if there is no penetration or ejaculation
- Rarely, gonorrhoea can be passed on if the semen or vaginal fluid of someone with gonorrhoea gets into your eye
- Gonorrhoea can sometimes be passed on from sharing sex toys
- If you’re pregnant, it’s possible to pass on gonorrhoea to the baby
- Some recent studies suggest that gonorrhoea in the throat may be passed on through deep kissing
- Anyone can get gonorrhoea. In London, the highest rates of gonorrhoea are in people aged 20 to 34
- A gonorrhoea vaccine is available at sexual health clinics for people with a higher chance of getting gonorrhoea
What are the symptoms of gonorrhoea?
Not everyone with gonorrhoea gets symptoms.
About 1 in 10 men and about half of women with genital gonorrhoea don't notice any symptoms.
If symptoms do appear, it’s usually within 2 weeks of first acquiring gonorrhoea – but it can also be weeks or months later.
In women, genital symptoms may include:
- Unusual vaginal discharge – this may be thin or watery and may range in colour from white to yellow or even a greenish colour
- Pain when urinating (weeing)
- Bleeding between periods
Less common symptoms include:
- Pain or tenderness in the lower tummy
- Deep pain during sex
- Heavier periods than usual or bleeding after sex
In men, genital symptoms may include:
- A white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis
- Pain in the urethra (tube you wee from)
- Pain when urinating (weeing)
- Swelling or soreness of the foreskin or head of the penis
- Pain, swelling or tenderness in the testicles (balls)
Most people with gonorrhoea in the rectum (bum) or throat will not get any symptoms. Some people may notice:
- Rectum (bum): pain, bleeding or discharge from the anus
- Throat: a sore throat
- Eyes: Irritation, pain, swelling or discharge. This is not common but needs treatment as soon as possible or it may lead to permanent vision damage
Can gonorrhoea cause health problems?
If it’s not treated, gonorrhoea can cause serious or painful complications such as:
- Long-term pelvic (lower tummy) pain in women
- Painful or swollen testicles or an inflamed prostate in men
- Ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy outside the womb, usually in a fallopian tube)
- Reduced fertility
- Rarely, arthritis (joint pain)
- Septicaemia (blood poisoning)
Gonorrhoea and pregnancy
Getting gonorrhoea when you’re pregnant may increase the chance of miscarriage, early labour, or the baby being born with an eye infection which can lead to permanent vision damage. Gonorrhoea can safely be treated during pregnancy.
Gonorrhoea testing in London
- A gonorrhoea test for men is done with a urine sample and/or a swab from the urethra (tube you pee from)
- A gonorrhoea test for women is done with a vaginal swab
- Sometimes swabbing the throat and/or anus (bum) may be recommended too
Online testing
Gonorrhoea rates in London are high and many people with gonorrhoea won’t notice any symptoms. SHL makes it easy for Londoners to order a free gonorrhoea test kit online. You take a urine sample or vaginal swab yourself (and a throat and/or anal swab in certain circumstances). If you do have gonorrhoea, we’ll help you get the right treatment for free.
Free Gonorrhoea and STI Testing Kit
Test for gonorrhoea and common STIs. Get your free NHS-funded STI test kit delivered to your door in London.
Take a self-sample at home and return it for free. Get your results online within a week.
Testing at a clinic
If you have certain symptoms (such as discharge from the penis) that suggest a high chance of gonorrhoea, we’ll encourage you to get tested at a sexual health clinic. In clinic, a swab can be taken from the affected area and checked with a microscope straight away. So if you do have gonorrhoea, you can get same-day treatment.
What is the treatment for gonorrhoea?
SHL can help direct you to get free treatment to cure gonorrhoea.
Treatment is usually a single antibiotic injection, given at a sexual health clinic.
Gonorrhoea can sometimes be resistant to antibiotics. Before giving you treatment, a healthcare professional at your sexual health clinic may ask to swab (culture) the part of your body affected by gonorrhoea. This is so they can check which antibiotics will work best to cure the gonorrhoea.
After treatment, symptoms should improve within a few days and get better completely within about 2 weeks.
You may be asked to do another test about 2 to 3 weeks after treatment to check the gonorrhoea has been cured. A test of cure is especially important if:
- You had gonorrhoea in the throat
- Symptoms don’t go away
- You received a treatment regimen that was different to the first-line injectable treatment advised by national guidelines
- You’re pregnant
Do I need to tell my sexual partners?
If you have gonorrhoea, you’ll need to tell current and recent sexual partners so that they can get tested.
If you have gonorrhoea in your penis and you had symptoms, you usually need to tell:
- Your most recent sexual partner
- Any other sexual partners you had in the 2 weeks before your symptoms started
- Any other sexual partners you had after your symptoms started
If you have gonorrhoea at any other body site or have had no symptoms, you usually need to tell any sexual partners you’ve had in the last 3 months.
Informing, testing and treating partners is really important because it lowers the chances of:
- You getting gonorrhoea again
- Gonorrhoea being passed on to a partner’s sexual partners
If you feel unable to tell sexual partners, one of the SHL team can contact them without mentioning your name.
Partners can order a gonorrhoea test by post from SHL or from their local sexual health service if they don’t live in an area covered by SHL. They can also choose to get tested at a sexual health clinic. A sexual health clinic may also offer treatment straight away before their test results are known. This is called epidemiological treatment.
Gonorrhoea vaccination
The Bexsero 4CMenB vaccine is a two-dose injection course, with the 2 injections given at least 4 weeks apart. It’s about 30 to 40% effective against gonorrhoea.
The vaccine will be offered to gay and bisexual men who have sex with men who have had an STI in the last 12 month or report 5 or more sexual partners in the last 3 months.
Other individuals may also benefit and be offered the vaccine after being assessed by a sexual health clinical professional. Green book chapter on gonorrhoea.
The vaccine is available for free in certain clinics.
If you develop symptoms of gonorrhoea after being vaccinated, it’s important to still get tested or visit a sexual health clinic as the vaccine is not 100% effective.
The vaccine also helps protect against illnesses such as meningitis. Children in the UK have been offered the vaccine since 2015, but many UK-born adults will not have been immunised.
The vaccine can be given at the same time as other STI treatment or other vaccinations such as hepatitis B or Mpox. But consider using a different arm, as side effects can include a sore arm / redness at the injection site.
A guide to the MenB Vaccine for protection against Gonorrhoea – also available in other languages
Read the latest UK recommendations
Taking care of your sexual health
If you have gonorrhoea, you may also have another STI. It’s advisable to have a full sexual health screen, including tests for chlamydia, syphilis and HIV.
You can get gonorrhoea more than once. To avoid getting gonorrhoea again, do not have oral, anal or vaginal sex until:
- at least 7 days after your treatment and
- both you and your current sexual partner(s) have finished treatment, even if this is longer than one week and
- you and your partner’s symptoms have gone
Consider doing an STI test 3 months after gonorrhoea treatment. This is because there is a higher chance of getting gonorrhoea or another STI over the next year.
To help protect your health in the future:
- Use condoms
- Encourage your partner(s) to test for STIs
- If you’re sexually active, consider testing for STIs at least once a year and after a change in partner
- You don’t usually need to get tested if you have just one long-term partner, you only have sex with each other and you’ve both tested for STIs since you’ve been together
Anyone who lives in an area covered by SHL can have up to 4 free STI testing kits a year.
Related Pages:
More information about chlamydia and STI testing
