Can you gonorrhea from kissing

If it works, it could be a simple and cheap intervention for everyone. Video Series. May 20, Alexandra Ward. Public health messaging has focused on condom use because most gonorrhea is thought to be transmitted during penile-anal sex among men who have sex with men. However, recent studies have suggested that sex accounts for only part of the documented cases, especially when gonorrhea occurs in the throat. Chow and colleagues surveyed 3, men who have sex with men between March and February at the Melbourne Sexual Health Center, which offers free walk-in service.

The survey asked about the number of male partners during the past three months in three separate categories: kissing-only, sex-only and kissing-with-sex. All of the men were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, and men, about six percent, had throat gonorrhea infections. About six percent had anorectal gonorrhea and three percent had urethral gonorrhea. Gonorrhea might produce no symptoms, but it can also cause painful urination, a pus-like discharge, or pain or swelling in one or both testicles.

Left untreated, gonorrhea can cause a testicular infection in men, pelvic inflammatory disease PID in women. In rare cases, it can spread to the blood and joints. Oral gonorrhea may also be asymptomatic, or it could result in a sore throat. According to a study published in the May issue of The Journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections, researchers studied 3, sexual-history questionnaires given to gay and bisexual men at a sexual health clinic. The study participants reported an average of four kissing-only partners, five kissing-with-sex partners, and one sex-only partner over the past three months.

According to the scientists, the men with a higher number of kissing-only and kissing-with-sex partners had a greater risk of contracting oral gonorrhea.

But they thought the transmission mode was oral sex — strictly oral-genital, not oral-oral. The study has attracted headlines because gonorrhea and other STIs are on the rise in all populations, not just in men who have sex with men MSM.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , in , , cases of gonorrhea were reported — an Cases increased Health officials are concerned because more and more cases are proving resistant to current antibiotics, limiting the number of treatment options that are effective. Some researchers have suggested that mouthwash is a cheap intervention and may kill gonorrhea germs in the throat, but more research is needed.