Gonorrhea can be passed from an infected woman to her newborn infant during delivery, causing eye infections in the baby. When the infection occurs in the genital tract, mouth, or rectum of a child, it is due most commonly to sexual abuse. The early symptoms of gonorrhea often are mild, and many women who are infected have no symptoms of the disease. If symptoms of gonorrhea develop, they usually appear within two to 10 days after sexual contact with an infected partner, although a small percentage of patients may be infected for several months without showing symptoms. More advanced symptoms, which indicate progression to PID, include abdominal pain, bleeding between menstrual periods, vomiting, or fever.
Men are more often symptomatic than women.
They 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. Many doctors prefer to use more than one test to increase the chance of an accurate diagnosis. The gram stain is quite accurate for men but is not very sensitive for women. Only one in two women with gonorrhea have a positive gram stain.