#Throat gonorrhea symptoms free#

This shouldn’t lull you into complacency, however - during the time you have a pharyngeal gonorrhea infection, you have the potential to infect others, and some experts fear that these symptom-free, under-the-radar infections might perpetuate strains of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. A flurry of research on pharyngeal gonorrhea was performed in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was demonstrated that gonorrhea infections in the throat can clear up without medical intervention within three months - with possibly half of infections going away after just a week. The good news about pharyngeal gonorrhea is that gonococci don’t seem very well suited to living in throats - they are much better adapted to the anus and genitals. Despite an unknown transmission rate, the fact remains that this mode of transmission is possible - therefore, during the time you have a pharyngeal gonorrhea infection, you can transmit the infection to your partner(s). While transmission of gonorrhea from a penis to a mouth has been well documented, researchers aren’t quite sure how easy it is to transmit gonorrhea from a mouth to a urethra, vagina, or anus. Documentation of pharyngeal gonorrhea among exclusively lesbian populations is rare, although it certainly exists!

Perhaps there is something about fellatio that has the potential to irritate the throat, independently of a gonorrhea infection.Īlthough gonorrhea can be spread via cervical and vaginal secretions, the frequency of transmission by this route has not been well studied among women who have sex with women (WSW). Interestingly, performing fellatio seems to be associated with symptoms of pharyngeal gonorrhea while performing cunnilingus does not.

10 to 25 percent of men who have sex with men (MSM)Īs shown by the above numbers, people who perform fellatio (oral contact with a penis) are much more likely to wind up with pharyngeal gonorrhea than are those whose oral-sex repertoire includes only cunnilingus (oral contact with a vagina, clitoris, etc.).

If you were to put everyone with gonorrhea into one giant room, you would be able to find gonococci in the throats of about: Symptoms might include a sore throat, but 90 percent of the time there are no symptoms at all. Gonococci can be transmitted to your mouth or throat via oral sex - most likely via unprotected oral sex. But gonococci, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, can thrive in other warm, moist areas of your body - not just the reproductive tract, but also the mouth, throat, eyes, and anus. Gonorrhea is most famous as an infection of the cervix or the urethra. Unprotected oral contact with a penis puts you at the most risk of acquiring pharyngeal gonorrhea. There are many good reasons to use barrier methods when engaging in oral sex, and pharyngeal gonorrhea is just one of them. Some people might think we don’t trust them or are underhandedly questioning their “cleanliness.” These sorts of fears can cloud our judgment when it comes to protecting our health, but there is nothing wrong with asking your partner to use protection during oral sex - especially if you don’t know one another’s STD status. With all the baggage we put on STD status, it can be difficult to ask a partner to use a condom or dental dam during oral sex.

#Throat gonorrhea symptoms free#

Many of us conceptualize of disease as “dirty,” and the flip side to that is to think of people without disease as “clean.” This kind of stigmatizing language can be found in phrases like “She looked clean” and “Don’t worry, I’m clean” - all to describe people who are perceived to be or who claim to be free of STDs. Taboos can affect the ways we relate to one another sexually, as well.

It is a testament to the power of taboo that even a fictional association with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) can elicit such negative reactions.

The actress later reported being shunned by members of her church, disillusioning her from the religion she grew up with. My fellow Generation Xers might remember an episode of Chicago Hope in which a very young Jessica Alba portrays a teenage girl with a gonorrhea infection in her throat - also called pharyngeal gonorrhea. From: Dustin Higashi, University of Arizona Įditor’s note: For more information on oral gonorrhea, please see our post Why Should You Care About Oral Gonorrhea? For more information on whether a gonorrhea infection can go away without treatment, please see our post Will STDs Go Away on Their Own? Pictured above: Gonococci can band together to attach themselves to a human cell.