Gonorrhea is a serious but curable bacterial infection that can be transmitted through genital, oral, or anal sex, as well as from an infected woman to her baby during delivery. The incubation period (the time it takes for an infection to develop) is usually two to ten days after exposure.
Gonorrhea has a high transmission rate, so if you have unprotected sex with an infected partner, your chances of becoming infected are high. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are about 820,000 new cases of gonorrhea in the United States annually, including about 13,200 in pregnant women.
Women who have gonorrhea during pregnancy tend to have higher rates of miscarriage, infection of the amniotic sac and fluid, preterm birth, and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), although prompt treatment reduces the risk of these problems. An untreated gonorrhea infection makes you more susceptible to HIV and some other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), if you're exposed to them, and raises your risk of a uterine infection after you have your baby.
If you have a gonorrhea infection when you go into labor, you can pass the bacteria to your baby. Gonorrhea in newborns most commonly affects the eyes, and babies may eventually go blind if left untreated.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force strongly recommends – and most states require by law – that all babies be treated with medicated eye drops or ointments soon after birth as a preventive measure. If the mother is known to have gonorrhea or the baby has a gonorrheal eye infection, he'll be treated with systemic antibiotics as well.
Less often, an untreated gonorrhea infection can spread to other parts of a baby's body, causing problems such as serious blood or joint infections and meningitis.
Many women with gonorrhea have no symptoms, so without testing it's likely you wouldn't have any idea that you were infected.
Symptoms, if you do get them, vary depending on the site of the infection. If your cervix, vagina, or urethra are involved, your symptoms may include abnormal vaginal discharge, burning or pain during urination, spotting, and pain during intercourse. With an anal infection, you might have discharge, itching, or experience pain when you move your bowels.
If you have oral sex with an infected partner, you can develop a gonorrhea infection in your throat or mouth. It may be accompanied by redness or soreness.
And if your eyes come in contact with the bacteria (for example, by touching infected genitals and then rubbing your eyes), you can develop an eye infection and may have discharge and itchy, red eyes.