“The clap” is a common slang term for gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It spreads through vaginal, anal, and oral sex, and it’s one of the most frequently reported STIs worldwide. Gonorrhea is curable with antibiotics, but left untreated it can cause serious problems including infertility.
Why Is Gonorrhea Called “the Clap”?
The nickname traces back to the French words “les clapiers,” which literally translates to “rabbit huts.” In medieval France, this was slang for the small shacks where sex workers lived and saw clients. Over time, the term was shortened and anglicized to “the clap,” and it stuck as a casual way to refer to gonorrhea. You’ll still hear it used today, though many people who use the term don’t know exactly what infection it refers to.
Symptoms in Men
Men are more likely than women to notice symptoms, which typically show up within two to five days of exposure but can take up to 30 days. The most recognizable sign is a thick, yellowish or greenish discharge from the penis, often described as looking like pus. Pain or burning during urination is the other hallmark symptom, and some men also develop swollen or tender testicles.
Not every man with gonorrhea will have obvious symptoms, though. Some infections, particularly in the throat or rectum, produce no noticeable signs at all. This means you can carry and spread the infection without realizing it.
Symptoms in Women
Most women with gonorrhea don’t have any symptoms. That’s what makes the infection particularly dangerous for women: it can silently progress for weeks or months. When symptoms do appear, they’re easy to mistake for a urinary tract infection or a yeast infection. They include a painful or burning sensation when peeing, increased vaginal discharge, and vaginal bleeding between periods.
Because these signs overlap with so many other conditions, routine screening is the most reliable way for sexually active women to catch a gonorrhea infection early.
Throat and Rectal Infections
Gonorrhea doesn’t only infect the genitals. It can also take hold in the throat (from oral sex) or the rectum (from anal sex). Both of these sites are even more likely to be asymptomatic than genital infections, which means many people never know they’re infected in these areas.
When rectal gonorrhea does cause symptoms, it typically involves rectal pain, discharge, and discomfort during bowel movements. Throat infections rarely cause symptoms at all, though some people notice a persistent sore throat. If you’re having oral or anal sex, mention this to your provider so the right sites get tested.
What Happens If It Goes Untreated
In women, untreated gonorrhea can travel upward into the reproductive tract, causing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID is an infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and cervix that can permanently damage the reproductive system and lead to infertility. It can also cause long-term pelvic pain that persists even after the original infection is treated.
In men, untreated gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful infection of the tube that carries sperm from the testicle. In rare cases, this too can affect fertility. For both sexes, the bacteria can occasionally spread through the bloodstream to joints and other organs, a condition called disseminated gonococcal infection that requires hospitalization.
During pregnancy, gonorrhea poses a serious risk to the baby. Newborns exposed to the bacteria during delivery can develop a severe eye infection within two to five days of birth. Without treatment, this infection can lead to blindness. Most states require that all newborns receive a preventive antibiotic eye ointment shortly after birth for this reason, and prenatal screening is the most effective way to catch and treat the infection before delivery.
How Gonorrhea Is Diagnosed
Testing is straightforward. The most common method uses a urine sample or a swab from the infected site (urethra, cervix, throat, or rectum). These samples are analyzed using a highly sensitive DNA-based test that can detect the bacteria even when no symptoms are present. Results typically come back within a few days.
If you’ve been exposed, most guidelines recommend waiting at least five days after the potential exposure before testing, since testing too early can produce a false negative. After treatment, a follow-up test is recommended to confirm the infection has cleared. Culture-based follow-up tests can be done as early as three days after completing treatment, while DNA-based tests should wait three to four weeks to avoid picking up genetic material from dead bacteria.
Treatment and Antibiotic Resistance
Gonorrhea is treated with a single injection of an antibiotic called ceftriaxone. For uncomplicated infections of the genitals, throat, or rectum, one dose is all it takes. If a chlamydia co-infection hasn’t been ruled out (the two infections frequently occur together), a week-long course of oral antibiotics is added.
What makes gonorrhea increasingly concerning is antibiotic resistance. The bacterium has a long track record of developing resistance to every class of antibiotic thrown at it. A 2025 report from the World Health Organization found that resistance to ceftriaxone, the current first-line treatment, jumped from 0.8% to 5% between 2022 and 2024. Resistance to another related antibiotic rose from 1.7% to 11% over the same period. Older antibiotics are now nearly useless: 95% of gonorrhea strains are resistant to ciprofloxacin, a drug that was once a standard treatment.
This doesn’t mean your infection can’t be treated today, but it does mean follow-up testing after treatment is more important than ever. If the first-line antibiotic doesn’t fully clear the infection, your provider needs to know so an alternative can be used.
How to Reduce Your Risk
Condoms significantly reduce the risk of gonorrhea transmission during vaginal and anal sex. For oral sex, dental dams and condoms offer protection, though they’re used far less consistently in practice. Limiting the number of sexual partners and having open conversations about STI testing with partners both lower your overall exposure risk.
Regular screening is one of the most effective tools, especially since so many infections produce no symptoms. The CDC recommends annual gonorrhea screening for all sexually active women under 25, as well as for men who have sex with men. Anyone with a new partner or multiple partners should consider testing regardless of age or sex. A repeat screening six months after a positive result is also recommended, since reinfection is common.