Gonorrhea Test

A gonorrhea test can tell you if you have gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection (STI). Healthcare providers test a urine (pee) sample or a swab from areas where the infection may be present, like your genitals, throat or rectum. If you have gonorrhea, you may not have symptoms. So, testing is an important way to find the infection and prevent spreading it to your partners.

Healthcare providers can treat gonorrhea with antibiotics. But without treatment, gonorrhea can cause health problems like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), testicular pain and infertility. Taking a gonorrhea test is the only way to know whether you have this infection.

When would you need one?

Many people with gonorrhea don’t have symptoms. If you’ve had sex with someone who has gonorrhea, you should get tested even if you feel OK. You should also get gonorrhea testing if you have any of these symptoms:

• Pain or burning when you pee
• Unusual discharge from your penis, vagina or urethra
• Increased vaginal discharge or bleeding between periods
• Pain in your testicles or scrotum
• Rectal pain, itching, discharge or pain when you poop
• A sore throat
• Eye redness, pain, itching or drainage

Routine gonorrhea screenings

Some people have a higher risk of getting gonorrhea. Ask a healthcare provider about regular screenings if you:

• Are pregnant
• Are a sexually active female younger than 25
• Have a new sex partner
• Have multiple sex partners
• Have a sex partner with gonorrhea
• Are living with HIV
• Are a gay, bisexual or other man who has sex with men

How does gonorrhea testing work?

Healthcare providers test a urine sample or swab of body fluid for the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. If they detect it, it means you have gonorrhea. There isn’t a blood test that can detect gonorrhea.

There are two main ways to get tested:

1. Healthcare provider’s office: A healthcare provider collects a urine sample or a swab from your vagina, cervix, urethra, rectum or throat. In some cases, you may collect your own swab in the office.
2. At-home collection kits or tests: Some U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test kits let you collect your own urine sample or swab at home and mail it to a lab or run your own test at home.

Most gonorrhea tests use a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). It’s the most accurate way to diagnose gonorrhea. Some healthcare settings may offer rapid testing, where you receive results sooner. But most gonorrhea tests still require a urine or swab sample to be sent to a lab. It will take a few days to get your results.

Preparing for a gonorrhea test

Your provider can tell you whether you need to prepare for your gonorrhea test. They may ask you to:

• Share information about what parts of your body are involved when you have sex. This can help your provider decide where to take the sample from.
• Stop taking antibiotics. Some antibiotics can interfere with your test results.
• Use a “first-catch” urine sample. This means you want to collect the sample as soon as you start peeing. Peeing an hour or two before your test might make your sample too weak for testing.
• Avoid vaginal creams for 24 hours before testing. Using these products can contaminate your sample and skew your test results.

What to expect during a gonorrhea test

If you need a urine sample, your provider will give you a cup to pee in. If you need a swab sample, they’ll use a cotton swab or a special brush to collect fluid and cells from the area that may have the infection. In some cases, your provider will give you instructions to collect the sample yourself. The process only takes a few minutes.

What do the results mean?

Your gonorrhea test results will either be negative (not detected) or positive (detected):

• A negative (not detected) result means your sample didn’t contain Neisseria gonorrhoeae. After exposure, it can take several weeks for a gonorrhea infection to show up on a test. Ask your provider if the timing was right or if you need to retest.
• A positive (detected) result means you have gonorrhea. If you test positive, you’ll need to start antibiotics right away. Tell your sexual partners so they can get tested, too.

When should I know the results of the test?

In most cases, it takes one to three days to get your test results. The exact length of time it takes depends on how the lab tests your sample.