Antibiotics, if taken exactly as directed, normally cure gonorrhea infections. If antibiotics are not taken properly, the infection will not be cured. Prompt antibiotic treatment also prevents the spread of the infection and decreases complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Avoid all sexual contact while you are being treated for an STD. People taking a single dose of medicine should not have any sexual contact for 7 days after treatment to give the medicine time to work. Exposed sex partners need treatment whether they have symptoms or not.

Medication Choices

Antibiotics

What To Think About

Some strains of gonorrhea can't be killed by (are resistant to) certain antibiotics. If your health professional finds that your gonorrhea is resistant to the drug you are taking, he or she might prescribe another antibiotic to cure the infection. If you continue to have symptoms after you have been treated for gonorrhea, you will need to be retested with a gonorrhea culture to determine whether there is bacterial resistance to the antibiotic you were taking.

Call your health professional if symptoms continue or new symptoms develop 3 to 4 weeks after treatment.

Treatment in a hospital with intravenous (IV) medicines may be needed for women who have pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). For more information, see the topic Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.