It may be caused by various infections, including chlamydia, a viral infection similar to trachoma and the protozoan infection trichomoniasis. Non-gonococcal urethritis is a sexually transmitted disease. The main symptoms in men are pain on urination and a discharge from the penis that is usually worse in the morning. In severe cases, urination is extremely painful, and there may be a thick, white discharge similar to that in gonorrhea.
Most women show no symptoms.
Rarely, there may be mild pain during urination, a slight vaginal discharge, and pain during sexual intercourse. Treatment lasts for two or three weeks. Alcohol should not be drunk for at least two weeks after the start of treatment, and sexual intercourse should be avoided until a physician considers that the patient is cured. All sexual partners should be evaluated and treated as well, because this is a sexually transmitted disease. A relapse may occur before the patient is cured.