Ask a doctor on the topic of Urology

Gonorrhea

April 5, 2011 | 10,00 EUR | answered by Erika Klaczinski

Hello,

since last December I have been with my current girlfriend. She lives outside of Germany and we are currently in a long-distance relationship. She visited me for 5 weeks in February and stayed with me. During that time, we had sex about twice a day. On the last day before she had to leave, I experienced pain while urinating and had white discharge. I went to the doctor and after a lab test, it was confirmed that I have gonorrhea. I have only had sex with my girlfriend so far, so I must have gotten it from her.

I called my girlfriend and she went to see a doctor. According to her doctor, she does not have gonorrhea. But that doesn't seem right, does it? She now wants to see another doctor.

Some additional information:
* According to her, she last had sex with someone else in November last year, but it was with a condom and no oral sex.

* The last time she had unprotected sex was about a year ago with her ex-boyfriend.

* During the time she was with me, we were together the whole time, so she couldn't have had sex with anyone else and I didn't notice any discharge from her.

Now, my questions are:
* Is it possible that my girlfriend got infected with gonorrhea about a year ago, didn't notice any symptoms, and then passed it on to me? Or how long can an infection go unnoticed?
* How reliable is a lab test result?

Erika Klaczinski

Good morning,
A gonorrhea infection in women is often asymptomatic and can persist for years without the woman noticing anything. It is usually the partner who discovers that the woman has something, while in men it quickly causes symptoms.
A swab from the cervix must be taken to detect gonococci bacteria. Antibodies can also be found in the blood. If you have not had sex with any other women and your urologist has detected the pathogen, then it is very unlikely that your girlfriend has nothing, especially since the incubation period also fits.
Perhaps you should repeat the test when she is in Germany. The private costs for such a test with examination are around 80 euros (just for the swab and laboratory costs).
If left untreated, a chronic infection in women can become unpleasant later in pregnancy, so she should have it thoroughly examined and take a follow-up swab after therapy to ensure that everything is gone.

All the best