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Gonorrhea: Symptoms, Testing and Treatment in Dallas

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Gonorrhea: Symptoms, Testing and Treatment in Dallas

This page is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether you have an infection. A clinician can, and the testing options on this site are a good place to start.

Gonorrhea is a common bacterial infection. It is also one of the most treatable infections a clinician sees, and one of the most closely watched because of antibiotic resistance. This guide covers what the symptoms of gonorrhea can look like in different parts of the body, how testing works, how clinicians approach gonorrhea treatment, and where Dallas residents can get tested.

The science is straightforward once it is laid out step by step. We have kept it plain on purpose.

What gonorrhea is

Gonorrhea is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The CDC says it spreads through vaginal, anal or oral sex, and that it can pass from a pregnant person to a baby during birth.

The bacterium can infect the urethra (the tube urine leaves through), the cervix, the rectum and the throat. It can also infect the eyes. Because it lives on moist surfaces, where it infects depends on the kind of sex a person has had.

Anyone who is sexually active can get gonorrhea, whatever their gender or orientation. Having it says nothing about a person's character. It is a common infection, and testing is routine health care.

Symptoms of gonorrhea, by site

The CDC notes that many people with gonorrhea have no symptoms at all. When symptoms do appear, they depend on the site of infection. That is why the same infection can look very different from one person to the next.

Many of these signs also show up with other infections or with non-infectious causes. A symptom alone cannot tell anyone what is going on. Only a test can.

Genital symptoms

The CDC describes the following signs in people with a penis:

  • Burning or pain when urinating
  • White, yellow or green discharge from the penis
  • Painful or swollen testicles

For people with a vagina and cervix, the CDC says symptoms are often mild or absent. When present, they can include:

  • More vaginal discharge than usual
  • Burning when urinating
  • Bleeding between periods or after sex
  • Pelvic or lower abdominal pain

Because these signs can be mild, they are easy to mistake for a urinary or yeast problem. A clinician can sort out which cause is involved.

Throat symptoms

Throat infection from oral sex is common, and the CDC notes that it usually causes no symptoms. Some people have a sore throat. A sore throat has many causes, so it does not point to gonorrhea on its own.

Rectal symptoms

Rectal infection can come from receptive anal sex. The CDC says it often causes no symptoms. When it does, people may notice:

  • Discharge from the rectum
  • Anal itching or soreness
  • Bleeding
  • Painful bowel movements

Why symptoms are not a reliable guide

Because so many infections are silent, the CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend screening for some groups even when there are no symptoms. The USPSTF recommends screening for gonorrhea in sexually active women 24 years and younger, and in older women at increased risk. The CDC STI Treatment Guidelines also recommend at least yearly screening, at each site of sexual contact, for sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. More frequent screening may be suggested for people at higher risk.

For transgender and gender-diverse people, the CDC guidelines advise screening based on the sexual contact a person has and the anatomy they have, not on gender identity. A clinician can help work out which sites to test.

Why site-specific testing matters

A urine test checks the urethra. It does not check the throat or rectum. A person can have a negative urine result and still have an infection in the throat or rectum, because the bacteria live at the site where they were passed on.

The CDC guidelines therefore recommend testing the sites of sexual exposure. In practice, a clinician may ask for any of these:

  • A urine sample or a swab of the genital area
  • A throat swab
  • A rectal swab

The standard laboratory method is a nucleic acid amplification test, usually called a NAAT. It looks for the genetic material of the bacterium. The CDC describes NAATs as the recommended test for most sites. A culture, which grows the bacteria in a lab, is used when a clinician needs to check which antibiotics will work, such as when symptoms continue after treatment.

Telling a clinician the truth about which kinds of sex you have had is what lets them choose the right swabs. Clinicians hear this every day and the conversation is confidential in the ordinary medical sense.

Is gonorrhea curable?

Yes. Per the CDC, gonorrhea is curable with the right antibiotics prescribed by a clinician. Taking medicine left over from someone else, or skipping a follow-up, can leave an infection in place and can add to resistance, so treatment should come from a clinician.

Treatment does not undo damage that an untreated infection has already caused. The CDC says untreated gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can affect fertility, and to painful inflammation near the testicles in men. It can also make HIV easier to get or pass on. Prompt testing and treatment lower those risks.

Gonorrhea treatment: the CDC approach

Only a clinician can prescribe treatment, and the details are theirs to set. Here is what the CDC STI Treatment Guidelines (2021) describe in general terms.

  • One injectable antibiotic. For uncomplicated gonorrhea of the urethra, cervix, rectum or throat, the CDC recommends an antibiotic called ceftriaxone, given by injection in a clinic.
  • A second medicine when chlamydia is possible. If chlamydia has not been ruled out, the CDC says a clinician should also prescribe doxycycline, because the two infections often occur together.
  • Allergy or special cases. The guidelines list alternative regimens for people who cannot take the first-choice medicine. A clinician decides if one applies.
  • Pause sex until treatment is done. The CDC advises waiting until a person and their partners have all been treated, and for 7 days after treatment.

Doses and schedules are not covered here. They are part of a prescription, and they change when guidelines are updated.

Test of cure for throat infections

The CDC says most people with genital or rectal gonorrhea who receive a recommended treatment do not need a test of cure. The throat is different. The guidelines say a person with throat gonorrhea who was treated with an alternative regimen should return 7 to 14 days after treatment for a test of cure, using a culture or a NAAT. Throat infections are harder to clear, and the alternative medicines work less reliably there.

The CDC also says any person whose symptoms continue after treatment should be seen again. A clinician may then send a culture to check which antibiotics the bacteria respond to.

Retesting and partners

The CDC recommends that people treated for gonorrhea be retested about three months later, whatever their partners did. This is because re-infection is common, not because treatment failed.

Partners from the past 60 days should be evaluated and treated, according to the CDC guidelines. Texas allows a form of this called expedited partner therapy. The CDC's legal summary for Texas says that rules from the Texas Medical Board and the state's pharmacy rules allow a clinician to prescribe for the partner of an established patient, and let a pharmacist fill it. Ask your clinic how it handles this.

Antibiotic resistance, explained simply

Gonorrhea bacteria have a long record of becoming resistant to antibiotics. The CDC reports that the bacterium has developed resistance to nearly every class of antibiotic once used against it. That history is why older, simpler treatments were dropped from the guidelines, and why the current approach relies on an injection.

The CDC lists drug-resistant gonorrhea among the public health threats it tracks. It monitors resistance through a national surveillance program, and it updates its recommendations when the data change. Clinicians are asked to report suspected treatment failures to their health department.

What this means for an individual:

  • Treatment from a clinician still works for the large majority of infections.
  • Finishing everything a clinician prescribes matters.
  • Returning to the clinic when symptoms do not go away matters, so a culture can be done.

What about doxy-PEP?

In 2024 the CDC issued guidance on doxycycline taken after sex to lower the chance of some bacterial STIs, called doxy-PEP. The CDC says research suggests it lowers syphilis and chlamydia, and that it has less of an effect on gonorrhea, in part because many gonorrhea strains are already resistant to doxycycline. It is a prescription decision for a clinician, for specific groups. The Dallas County Sexual Health Clinic page does not list doxy-PEP, so ask a provider if you want to talk about it.

Gonorrhea in Dallas County: the local numbers

The most recent county figures published by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) are for 2022. In its report Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Texas in 2022, DSHS lists 10,696 gonorrhea cases in Dallas County, a rate of 411.3 per 100,000 people.

For the same year, the DSHS Texas STD Surveillance Report 2022 puts the statewide rate at 207.0 per 100,000, from 62,174 cases. The Dallas County rate is about twice the state rate.

Area (2022, Texas DSHS)Gonorrhea casesRate per 100,000
Dallas County10,696411.3
Texas62,174207.0

These are reported cases. They count people who were tested and diagnosed, so they reflect testing as well as infection. DSHS has not published newer county gonorrhea figures at the time of writing.

Texas DSHS lists gonorrhea as a notifiable condition. Its 2026 notifiable conditions list says labs and clinicians report it to public health within one week. Reporting goes to the health department and is part of how the county tracks trends. It is handled as a health record.

Getting tested and treated in Dallas

Several Dallas clinics test for gonorrhea. This table gives each clinic's own listing. Costs and hours can change, so confirm them by phone before you go. Our full guide to STD testing in Dallas and what it costs goes into more detail.

ClinicAddress and phoneWhat the listing says
Sexual Health Clinic, Dallas County Health and Human Services2377 N. Stemmons Freeway, 1st Floor, Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75207; (214) 819-1819Tests and treats gonorrhea. Appointments required, with same-day or next-day slots offered. Routine testing without symptoms is directed to the DCHHS Mobile Medical Unit. The county page lists no fees.
Resource Center Health (Nelson-Tebedo clinic)2603 Inwood Rd., Dallas, TX 75235; 214.528.2336The clinic's page lists the gonorrhea and chlamydia test as free with a $40 office visit. Request an appointment online.
Prism Health North Texas, Oak Lawn Health Center2801 Lemmon Ave, Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75204; 214-521-5191Sliding fee based on household income and size. Accepts Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP and most private insurance. Appointments should be scheduled in advance. Other Prism locations are listed on its site.
Martin Luther King Jr Family Clinic (Foremost Family Health Centers)2922-B MLK Jr Blvd, Dallas, TX 75215; (214) 426-3645CDC GetTested lists insurance, Medicaid, Medicare and a sliding scale.
Parkland Health, Southeast Dallas Health Center9202 Elam Rd, Dallas, TX 75217; (214) 266-1600CDC GetTested lists insurance, Medicaid and a sliding scale.
AHF Healthcare Center, Dallas7777 Forest Ln Ste B 122, Dallas, TX 75230; (972) 383-1060CDC GetTested lists a sliding scale and says an appointment is not required.
Neighborhood Medical Center5917 Belt Line Rd, Dallas, TX 75254; (972) 726-6464CDC GetTested lists insurance and a sliding scale, and says an appointment is not required.

The Dallas County clinic's page does not list hours for walk-in testing. Its listed hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The phone line opens at 7:45 a.m. and the clinic closes at 3:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month.

You can also use the CDC's GetTested locator at gettested.cdc.gov to find other testing sites by ZIP code.

Free testing by mail

Texas DSHS lists a free mailed self-testing program called Test for Texas. It covers HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia for anyone in Texas aged 13 or older, with no insurance needed, and orders are placed at testfortexas.org. A mailed kit may not collect samples from the throat or rectum, so check the program's page for which samples it takes. If you have exposure at those sites, ask a clinic about swab testing.

Teens and young adults

Texas Family Code Section 32.003 says a minor of any age may consent to diagnosis and treatment of a reportable infectious disease, and parent or guardian consent is not required for that care. The same section allows a physician to tell a parent or guardian about the treatment, whether or not the minor agrees. A clinic cannot promise that parents will never be told, so it is fair to ask about the clinic's practice before the visit.

The Children's Health Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine clinic at 2350 N Stemmons Fwy, Ste F5200, (214) 456-9099, treats gonorrhea. Its page says a parent or guardian must give general consent for a minor to be treated there, so it may not suit a teen who wants to go without a parent.

Pregnancy

Texas Health and Safety Code Section 81.090 requires syphilis and HIV testing during prenatal care. It does not list gonorrhea. The CDC does recommend gonorrhea screening in pregnancy for people at risk, so raise it with your prenatal clinician. Untreated gonorrhea in pregnancy can affect the baby, and it can be treated.

What to ask at your visit

  • Which sites should be tested, based on the kinds of sex you have had?
  • If I test positive, will the same visit include treatment, or will I come back?
  • Is a test of cure needed for a throat infection?
  • How do I tell partners, and can the clinic help with partner treatment?
  • When should I be retested?

If a price is not on the clinic's page, ask when you call. Several Dallas clinics use sliding scales based on income, and Medicaid is accepted at a number of them.

Key takeaways

  • Gonorrhea can affect the genitals, throat and rectum, and often causes no symptoms.
  • Site-specific testing matters because a urine test does not check the throat or rectum.
  • Per the CDC, gonorrhea is curable with antibiotics from a clinician.
  • The CDC recommends a test of cure for throat infections treated with an alternative regimen, and a retest at about three months for everyone treated.
  • Antibiotic resistance is why the treatment advice has changed over the years and why follow-up matters.
  • In Dallas County, the 2022 DSHS rate was 411.3 per 100,000, about twice the Texas rate.

Sources