Men usually have a discharge from the penis and a burning sensation during urination that may be severe. Symptoms of rectal infection include discharge, anal itching, and sometimes painful bowel movements. The early symptoms of gonorrhea often are mild, and most women who are infected have no symptoms of the disease. If symptoms of gonorrhea develop, they usually appear within 2 to 10 days after sexual contact with an infected partner. A small percentage of patients may be infected for several months without showing symptoms.
Infected women can pass gonorrhea to their newborn baby during delivery.
If a baby catches gonorrhea during childbirth, they might have eye infections. When the infection occurs in the genital tract, mouth, or rectum of a child, it is due most commonly to sexual abuse. Your doctor can prescribe antiobiotics that will cure the infection. April is Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness month in the United States. Statistics Nearly 750,000 cases of gonorrhea are reported annually in the United States.