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: single-dose azithromycin or a ceftriaxone shot for gonorrhea, 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.

⚕️ 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.