Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection like Chlamydia, but less common. If you’re a woman aged 16-24 or a man aged 20-24, you are at the greatest risk.
Gonorrhoea can be passed on through unprotected vaginal sex, anal sex or oral sex (kissing, licking or sucking someone’s genitals). If people share sex toys and do not wash them or cover them with a condom every time then they can pass gonorrhoea on as well.
About 10% of men and 50% of women will not have obvious signs of gonorrhoea so you may need a test to find out whether you have it.
How to recognise it
Symptoms for both men and women
- Thin white, yellow or green discharge from the penis or the vagina
- Frequent need to wee
- Pain when weeing
- In rare cases lower stomach pain.
Women may notice heavier than usual periods or bleeding between periods.
Men may have painful testicles.
How it’s treated
Gonorrhoea is usually treated with a single dose of antibiotics and you shouldn’t have sex until treatment is complete. If left untreated gonorrhoea can lead to infertility and inflammation of the joints or the eyes.
This information is sourced from Brook.