Gonorrhoea
Fact Sheet2 - Health conditions directory
Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmissible infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoea. It is spread by sexual contact and can infect the urethra, anus, throat, cervix, uterus and even the eyes, potentially leading to serious complications.
Gonorrhoea notifications have increased in all states and territories. Gonorrhoea has increased in heterosexual women and men, as well as in men who have sex with men. There have been two cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) gonorrhoea detected in Australia that are highly resistant to all of the antibiotics that have been in routine use to treat gonorrhoea.
Public health management guidelines
Notification
Pathology laboratories
- Notification criteria for pathology laboratories4 (PDF, 55kB)
Notification resources
- List of all Pathological, clinical and provisional diagnosis notifiable conditions 5
- List of Public Health Unit6 contacts
Enhanced surveillance
- Gonorrhoea enhanced surveillance form7 (PDF, 213kB) - used to collect and manage more detailed information for enhanced case surveillance.
Clinical guidelines
- Australian STI management guidelines8 - an online resource for primary care health professionals which provide concise information to support the prevention, testing, diagnosis, management and treatment of STIs.
Epidemiological data and reports
- View communicable diseases data for notifiable conditions in Queensland9 and blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections surveillance reports10.
- The Kirby Institute usually reports annually on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. The data, including full data tables and charts as well as additional information, can be found on the Kirby Institute's data site11. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, data has been compiled into a national summary for 2009-201812.