Gonorrhea symptoms

Dr. med. Fabian Sinowatz is a freelancer in the medical editorial team.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Typical symptoms of gonorrhea are inflammation of the urinary and genital organs and a purulent discharge from the urethra. In many cases, however, there are no symptoms of gonorrhea (silent infection). Read here how you can recognize a gonorrhea infection.

Tripper causes no symptoms in only about a tenth of all infected men. In contrast, only about half of all infected women notice the typical symptoms of gonorrhea. The problem: Those who do not experience gonorrhea symptoms do not know that they have a contagious disease. Thus, gonorrhea is often passed on unknowingly. This means a high risk of the undetected spread of gonorrhea.

Gonorrhea symptoms typically show up two to seven days after infection. A distinction is made between acute gonorrhea symptoms and chronic complaints

ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. A54

Acute gonorrhea symptoms man:

Burning pain when urinating. In the worst case, a feeling arises as if there were "splinters of glass in the urethra".
Redness and painful swelling of the penis and foreskin
Purulent discharge from the urethra. Initially, only small amounts are produced, which are slimy. But the amount increases very quickly, the discharge looks yellowish-creamy.
During anal intercourse, gonorrhea can cause inflammation in the rectum (rectal gonorrhea). It can become noticeable in the form of slimy-purulent additions in the stool and pain when defecating.
Oral sex can cause inflammation with a sore throat in the throat (pharyngeal gonorrhea). However, an infection of the throat with gonorrhea causes no symptoms in 90 percent of cases.

Acute gonorrhea symptoms in women:

In the early stages, symptoms of gonorrhea can be very mild. You may experience a discharge and a slight burning sensation when you urinate. The discharge from the vagina may be smelly.
Inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis) can show up as a purulent or bloody discharge.
Sometimes gonorrhea spreads further within the internal genital organs, which can lead to inflammation of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. This results in a fever, abdominal discomfort, discharge and spotting.
Rectal gonorrhea often occurs in women when the pathogen spreads from the genital tract to the rectum (secondary infection).

Without treatment, gonorrhea symptoms can become chronic. The local symptoms on the mucous membranes mostly disappear, but the pathogens penetrate deeper tissue layers, where they can cause chronic inflammation. In men, chronic inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis) and / or inflammation of the epididymis (epididymitis) can occur. The production of pus is low. A droplet of pus forms only overnight, which typically flows out of the urethra before the first urination in the morning ("Bonjour droplets"). The chronic inflammation is difficult to access for antibiotics and can lead to narrowing of the urethra (urethral stricture).

In women, the chronic gonorrhea symptoms can lead to far-reaching complications: Inflammation of the fallopian tubes and ovaries (adnexitis) can lead to adhesions and thus to infertility. The symptoms often worsen during menstrual bleeding.

In both sexes, the gonorrhea infection can spread over the whole body and gonorrhea symptoms can also occur in other parts of the body. In these rare cases (around one to three percent) the gonorrhea symptoms include fever, skin changes, painful joint inflammation and tendinitis. Only in exceptional cases does the clap pathogen spread to the meninges (meningitis) and the heart (endocarditis). If there is a gonorrhea infection during birth, an infection of the conjunctiva in the eyes can occur in the newborn. ("Neonatal blennorrhea").

If you suspect gonorrhea symptoms in yourself or your partner, don't be afraid to see a doctor!

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