A baby can be infected during childbirth if the mother has gonorrhea. When the baby passes through the birth canal, the bacteria can get into and infect the baby's eyes. You can have gonorrhea without having any obvious symptoms. When you do have symptoms, they usually appear within 2 to 10 days after you are infected. If a baby gets gonorrhea during childbirth, one or both of the baby's eyes are severely inflamed.
Many illnesses can cause symptoms similar to gonorrhea.
To confirm that you have gonorrhea, the health care provider will test a sample of discharge from the urethra of the penis or from the cervix. There is a urine test that can check for gonorrhea, but it is more expensive and not widely available. Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics, taken by mouth or given as a shot. Because of this, you will usually be given more than one drug to cure both diseases. If you are allergic to penicillin, tell your health care provider.