How Long Does Gonorrhea Stay In The Body?

Posted on Tue, 17 Oct 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 Answered on

Fri, 10 Nov 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : How long can Gonorrhea stay in the body, for how many years? I am 65 years old and do not understand why I am being tested for STDs when I haven't had relations in over thirteen years.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Regarding testing for Gonorrhea

Detailed Answer:
Hello. Thank you for writing to us

I am Dr. Kakkar (Dermatologist and Venereologist). I have noted your concern and I wish my advice would be helpful.

Gonococcal infection (Gonorhea) is asymptomatic in most infected females (80%) and can persist for months or even years and even when it is symptomatic it usually present with non-specific symptoms. One of these symptoms includes irregular vaginal bleeding/ spotting between periods/ post menopausal bleeding. Perhaps that is the reason to test for gonorrhea as they want to cover for all possible causes of post menopausal bleeding (with STI's being one of the cause) while trying to find out the real cause which was most likely the polyp that was removed.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj