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Tested Positive for Chlamydia or Gonorrhea? Here is What Happens Next 

  • BeWellAdmin
  • 2 hours ago
  • 3 min read
Image Credit: Envato.com
Image Credit: Envato.com

 

If your quick-test results come back positive for chlamydia and/or gonorrhea, do not panic. Both sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common and treatable.1,2 If your test result comes back positive you will be contacted by a Queen’s University Student Wellness Services (SWS) nurse. This can take up to 2 weeks depending on lab capacity. Once you have received your result, counselling and treatment planning will begin immediately over the phone.  

 

How Does Treatment Work? 

 

  1. Chlamydia Treatment 

  

There are two standard treatment options for a chlamydia infection. Both options are antibiotics taken by mouth.2 Which option you take depends on risk factors assessed by your ordering prescriber.2 

 

  • Option 1 (most common): Azithromycin 1 g taken once as a single dose  

  • Option 2: Doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days  

 

  1. Gonorrhea Treatment 

If you have tested positive for gonorrhea, you will be treated with one injection into the muscle of 500 mg of an antibiotic called Ceftriaxone.1 Current data show that about 99 out of 100 cases of gonorrhea respond to this treatment.3 

 

The treatments outlined above are the most commonly used. However, they are not the only options.1,2 A health care provider will guide you through a treatment plan that will work best for you! 

 

So … What Now?  

  • It is important to avoid participating in any sexual activity while waiting for test results and for a minimum of 7 days following your treatment.1 

  • The local public health unit, Southeast Public Health, will be automatically informed of any positive chlamydia or gonorrhea test results. Both infections are of public health significance and therefore appropriate case management, including treatment, must be confirmed.4 These details are provided by SWS in the form of a case report submitted to Southeast Public Health. 

  • A staff member from Southeast Public Health may call you to follow-up on your case if there is missing information, concerns of treatment compliance, or to assist you in notifying recent sexual partners. 

  • It is important that all of your recent sexual partners from the past 60 days are informed of their risk of infection.2 They must be tested as well. This may be done by you or by Public Health.5 

 

These steps will help prevent you from becoming reinfected. It will also help stop the infections from being spread to other individuals. 

 

Want or Need More Information? 

  

  1. Access the following reliable resources:  

  2. https://www.sexandu.ca/stis/chlamydia/ 

  3. https://www.sexandu.ca/stis/gonorrhea/ 

  4. https://sexualhealthontario.ca/en/stis#sti-testing 

  5. https://www.shrckingston.org/sti 

  6. Speak with a nurse at Queen’s University Student Wellness Services by calling 613-533-2506 and following the outlined prompts.  

  7. Speak to your health care provider. 

 

References  

  1. Public Health Agency of Canada. Gonorrhea guide: Treatment and follow-up [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/infectious-diseases/sexual-health-sexually-transmitted-infections/canadian-guidelines/gonorrhea/treatment-follow-up.html 

  2. Public Health Agency of Canada. Sexual and reproductive type. 2021 [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Chlamydia and LGV guide: Key information and resources. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/infectious-diseases/sexual-health-sexually-transmitted-infections/canadian-guidelines/chlamydia-lgv.html 

  3. Public Health Ontario. Gonorrhea in Ontario: Focus on 2024 [Internet]. Public Health Ontario; 2026. Available from: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/Documents/G/26/gonorrhea-ontario-focus-2024.pdf?rev=8d763cf07e8946a79a5ff102e67aea2e&sc_lang=en&hash=C31D8FCDBC47D6288AC5D8E07581D364 

  4. Report a disease of public health significance [Internet]. KFL&A Public Health; 2025 [cited 2026 Feb 27]. Available from: https://www.kflaph.ca/en/organizations-and-professionals/report-a-communicable-disease.aspx 

  5. Action Canada. Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights. 2023 [cited 2026 Feb 23]. STI Testing FAQs. Available from: https://www.actioncanadashr.org/resources/sexual-health-hub/sexually-transmitted-infections/sti-testing-faqs 

 

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