Gonorrhea Test: What To Think About

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What To Think About

• If a gonorrhea infection is suspected, avoid sexual intercourse until the test results have come back. If results indicate a gonorrhea infection, continue to avoid sexual intercourse for 7 days after the start of treatment. Your sex partner must also be treated for a gonorrhea infection to avoid reinfecting you or to avoid infecting others.
• If you have a gonorrhea infection, all of your sex partners from within the last 60 days should be tested and treated. If gonorrhea is suspected, you may need to have tests for other sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
• Only one laboratory test (ELISA, DFA, PCR, DNA probe testing, or gonorrhea culture) is needed to diagnose gonorrhea. Your health professional usually chooses which test to use.
  • Samples for gonorrhea testing may be taken from more than one site.
  • The nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are more accurate than a gonorrhea culture because they can detect both living and dead gonorrhea bacteria. The NAATs are more expensive than a gonorrhea culture or Gram stain.
• A gonorrhea culture may be done after a positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) or nucleic acid hybridization test (DNA probe test) if your health professional is concerned that you may have antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea.
• Your health professional is required to report your gonorrhea infection to the state health department.
• In the United States, your health professional must report to the state health department that you have gonorrhea.
• For more information on the treatment for a gonorrhea infection, see the topic Gonorrhea.

Last updated:	May 09, 2007
Author:	Kathe Gallagher, MSW
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Deborah A. Penava, BA, MD, FRCSC, MPH - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC