These tests are as accurate or more so than culturing the bacteria, and many doctors use them. The culture test involves placing a sample of the discharge onto a culture plate and incubating it up to two days to allow the bacteria to multiply. The sensitivity of this test depends on the site from which the sample is taken. Cultures of cervical samples detect infection approximately 90 percent of the time. The doctor also can take a culture to detect gonorrhea in the throat.
Culture allows testing for drug-resistant bacteria.
If you have gonorrhea and are pregnant or are younger than 18 years old, you should not take ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin. Your doctor can prescribe the best and safest antibiotic for you. Gonorrhea and chlamydial infection, another common STD, often infect people at the same time. Therefore, doctors usually prescribe a combination of antibiotics, such as ceftriaxone and doxycycline or azithromycin, which will treat both diseases. If you have gonorrhea, all of your sexual partners should get tested and then treated if infected, whether or not they have symptoms of infection.