Frequently Asked Questions Is gonorrhea is the same as chlamydia? Aren’t they both “the clap”? No. “The clap” typically refers to gonorrhea. The symptoms of both diseases are often identical, but different bacteria cause chlamydia and gonorrhea, so they require treatment with different antibiotics. Will penicillin cure gonorrhea? No. Currently, the only class of antibiotics recommended to reliably kill gonorrhea is the cephalosporin class, which is a cousin of penicillins. Can you get gonorrhea from a toilet seat? No. Can you have chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time? Yes, this happens commonly. If you have one, you should be treated and/or tested for the other one. Can you get gonorrhea from douching? No. However, douching can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) by forcing vaginal infections (often silent) up into the cervix and into the uterus or fallopian tubes. Additional Information American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists P. O. Box 96920 409 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20090-6920 202-863-2518 www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp071.cfm American Social Health Association P. O. Box 13827 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 1-800-227-8922 www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_gonorrhea_fact.cfm CDC-INFO Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), 1-888-232-6348 TTY www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/default.htm MedlinePlus National Library of Medicine
Frequently Asked Questions Is gonorrhea is the same as chlamydia? Aren’t they both “the clap”? No. “The clap” typically refers to gonorrhea. The symptoms of both diseases are often identical, but different bacteria cause chlamydia and gonorrhea, so they require treatment with different antibiotics. Will penicillin cure gonorrhea? No. Currently, the only class of antibiotics recommended to reliably kill gonorrhea is the cephalosporin class, which is a cousin of penicillins. Can you get gonorrhea from a toilet seat? No. Can you have chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time? Yes, this happens commonly. If you have one, you should be treated and/or tested for the other one. Can you get gonorrhea from douching? No. However, douching can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) by forcing vaginal infections (often silent) up into the cervix and into the uterus or fallopian tubes. Additional Information American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists P. O. Box 96920 409 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20090-6920 202-863-2518 www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp071.cfm American Social Health Association P. O. Box 13827 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 1-800-227-8922 www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_gonorrhea_fact.cfm CDC-INFO Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), 1-888-232-6348 TTY www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/default.htm MedlinePlus National Library of Medicine