Painful sex? Struggling to put a tampon? That could be a sign that your cervix, where the infection can occur, is inflamed, says Dr. When in doubt, call your doc to figure out what the issue is. Just note if your vagina is itchy but smells more fishy, that could be a sign of bacterial vaginosis. It’s often accompanied with an itchy feeling, too. When gonorrhea infects the cervix, it causes an inflammatory response that produces the substance, she explains. Women who have symptoms with gonorrhea first tend to complain of a thick, yellow vaginal discharge, says Dr. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play If you notice any of the following red flags, don’t hesitate to make an appointment with your ob-gyn. So what can you do to protect yourself? Other than preventing the STI in the first place through safe sex practices (always use a condom, people!), there are subtle signs of gonorrhea to keep your eyes peeled for so you can seek treatment ASAP. Problem is, when left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease-a condition where bacteria travels up from the cervix and urethra to the uterus and fallopian tubes-which can cause a severe infection and ultimately lead to infertility, says Huma Farid, MD, an ob-gyn at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In fact, there is only one class of antibiotics (known as cephalosporins) left as a recommended treatment.

That means antibiotics that used to do the trick simply can’ t kill the same bacteria now. What’s more, the STI has become an “urgent public health threat” because it has developed antibiotic resistance to nearly all of the medication used for its treatment in the past. While incidences of gonorrhea did hit an all-time low back in 2009, the number of reported cases have increased by nearly 50 percent as of 2016, according to the CDC.

Roughly 820,000 infections pop up every year, and more than half of them affect people ages 15 to 24.

Gonorrhea symptoms female