To investigate the clinical characteristics of 231 patients with gonorrhea and the effects of ceftriaxone.

Data of 231 patients who were diagnosed as gonorrhoea by clinical and laboratory tests, and treated with ceftriaxone in the Department of Dermatology, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University from May 2013 to December 2019 were analyzed, retrospectively.

Among the 231 patients, 84.8% (196/231) were male and 97% (224/231) were symptomatic. The median age was 30 (26, 35) years old. Total of 43 cases (18.6%) were co-infected with Chlamydia trachomatis and 50 cases (21.6%) were co-infected with Ureaplasma urealyticum, among whom 15 cases (6.5%) were co-infected with both Chlamydia trachomatis and Ureaplasma urealyticum. The rates of co-infection with Chlamydia trachomatis [31.4% (11/35)] or Ureaplasma urealyticum [77.1% (27/35)] were both higher in female patients than male patients [16.3% (32/196) and 11.7% (23/196)], with significant differences (co-infected with Chlamydia trachomatis: χ² = 4.471, P = 0.034; co-infected with Ureaplasma urealyticum: χ² = 74.912, P < 0.001). After treatment of high dosage ceftriaxone (≥ 1 g), all patients were negative for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, but 10 cases (4.3%) were found Neisseria gonorrhoeae reinfected during follow-up.

Patients with gonorrhoea were often co-infected with Chlamydia trachomatis and other sexually transmitted diseases. Treatment failure were not found in this study after treatment of high dosage ceftriaxone (≥ 1 g). However, reinfection can occur after cure in patients with gonorrhea, so patients with gonorrhea should be followed up for several times after treatment to detect treatment failure or reinfection as soon as possible.