Urethritis

Prevention

Because both gonococcal and nongonococcal urethritis are caused by microbes that can be transmitted during sexual intercourse, you can prevent these infections by:

• Not having sex

• Having a sex with only one uninfected partner

• Consistently using male latex condoms during sexual activity, with or without a spermicide

Having sexually transmitted urethritis may increase your risk of HIV infection. If you already have HIV, urethritis may increase the risk that you will pass HIV to a sex partner.

Urethritis from injury or chemical irritation is rare, and there is no way to prevent it. Once it occurs, avoiding the offending substance should prevent urethritis from recurring.

Treatment

Bacterial urethritis can be treated with a variety of antibiotics. Because certain strains of bacteria have become resistant to specific antibiotics, your doctor may need to prescribe a different antibiotic if symptoms continue after you have finished taking the first prescription.

All sex partners of a person infected with bacterial urethritis also should be treated. People who are taking antibiotics for urethritis should not have sex until the treatment is complete.

Because many people have gonorrhea and chlamydia at the same time, health experts recommend that all people treated for gonorrhea should be treated for chlamydia as well. For this reason, you may need to take two types of antibiotics, because many commonly used antibiotics will treat only one of the two infections.

No specific treatment is needed for urethritis caused by injury or chemical irritation. Your doctor may prescribe phenazopyridine (Pyridium) to ease any burning or pain with urination.