Quick Answer

Wait 7 full days after single-dose treatment (azithromycin, metronidazole, ceftriaxone shots) and until completing entire multi-day courses (doxycycline week-long regimens) before having sex again — and only once partners are treated too, or reinfection cycles begin immediately.

  • CDC guidance: no sex until treatment completes plus 7 days minimum.
  • Partner simultaneity matters: treating yourself while an untreated partner remains positive guarantees ping-pong reinfection.
  • Test-of-cure timing differs from sex-resumption timing — you can often resume before confirmatory testing when treatment was straightforward.
  • Herpes and HIV differ entirely: suppression-based management replaces cure-and-resume frameworks.

The Landscape

The 7-day window exists because antibiotics kill at population-dependent rates: early resumption exposes partners to surviving organisms mid-treatment. Reinfection statistics validate the rule — couples resuming prematurely retest positive at striking rates.

The partner gap

Expedited partner therapy solves the coordination problem: many states let clinicians prescribe for partners sight-unseen, enabling simultaneous treatment instead of sequential scheduling delays.

Special cases

PID treatment (14 days), epididymitis, and late syphilis carry longer abstinence windows — follow stage-specific instructions rather than generic rules.

Treatment Windows by Infection

Bacterial infections clear with antibiotics measured in days: a single 500 mg intramuscular ceftriaxone dose for gonorrhea (doxycycline is added only if chlamydia has not been ruled out), seven days of doxycycline for chlamydia, penicillin injections for syphilis staged by duration. Viral infections play a longer game — suppressive antivirals for herpes, daily ART driving HIV to undetectable, and 8–12-week antiviral courses curing over 95% of hepatitis C cases.

Related Questions

⚕️ This page is educational and does not replace advice from a licensed clinician. If you may have been exposed to an STI, get tested — most infections are manageable, and many are fully curable.

Sources & Further Reading

Figures reflect CDC surveillance and WHO estimates; they are population statistics, not personal risk predictions.