It is a bacterial infection, and symptoms in men and women may include a burning sensation during urination and a runny, whitish discharge. Consequently, most women infected with chlamydia are unaware of their infection. Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection which can be passed through vaginal, anal, and oral sexual contact. In men, the infection of the penis usually causes a burning feeling upon urination and a thick, yellowish or greenish discharge. Symptoms usually develop within 5 days of infection, but can take up to 30 days before noticeable symptoms emerge.
Many women display no symptoms of gonorrhea.
An infection of the cervix may cause a discharge similar to a man's, but the discharge is often unnoticed since it gets mixed with the normal wetness of a woman's vagina. Gonorrhea in the throat may cause a dry, sore, scratchy feeling. Both men and women can go without symptoms no matter where they are infected. Last year an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Americans died from liver complications stemming from hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B, though potentially fatal, is preventable through a vaccine administered in three doses.