After STI Treatment: When You’re No Longer Contagious and When to retest.

After STI treatment, many people ask, “When am I no longer contagious?” For gonorrhea and chlamydia, the CDC says you should not have sex for 7 days after treatment and until all partners are treated too. That helps stop the infection from spreading back and forth.

Retesting matters. The CDC says people treated for chlamydia should be retested about 3 months after treatment. People treated for gonorrhea should also be retested in 3 months.

This is not because treatment usually fails. It is often because people get exposed again.

Some infections need special follow-up. For example, pharyngeal gonorrhea should have a test of cure 7 to 14 days after treatment. Syphilis follow-up depends on the stage and your provider’s plan.