Can You Get Gonorrhea From Kissing?

Worrying about a kiss after a possible exposure is very common. It helps to separate what is well established from what researchers are still working out.

Can you get gonorrhea from kissing?

Kissing on its own has not been confirmed as a way to catch gonorrhea. The CDC says you can get it by having vaginal, anal or oral sex without a condom with someone who has the infection. Kissing is not on that list.

The question is not completely closed, though. Gonorrhea bacteria can live in the throat, so researchers have asked whether kissing could pass them from one throat to another. A 2017 article in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a CDC journal, proposed this as a hypothesis based on data from men who have sex with men. The authors said kissing has not been well studied, and they could not find published studies of people who only kissed. One cohort study in that group did link kissing with throat gonorrhea, but the authors note that few studies have looked at kissing at all. So the honest answer is that a risk can’t be ruled out, and it hasn’t been shown either way.

How does gonorrhea usually spread?

The established ways are:

• Vaginal, anal or oral sex without a condom with a partner who has gonorrhea.
• Childbirth. A pregnant person with gonorrhea can pass it to the baby during delivery.
• Contact between infected fluid and the eyes. The NHS notes that an eye infection can follow touching your eyes after touching infected fluid from the penis or vagina.

The NHS describes gonorrhea as spreading through vaginal fluid and semen. MedlinePlus adds that the bacteria can infect the mouth, throat, eyes, urethra, vagina, penis or anus.

What if the kiss led to oral sex?

Then it counts as a genuine exposure. Oral sex can pass gonorrhea in either direction, between the mouth and the genitals or the anus. That includes kissing a penis, a vulva or an anus.

Throat infections matter here because most of them cause no symptoms, according to the CDC. A person can have gonorrhea in their throat, feel completely well, and not know. That is one reason a throat swab is part of testing after oral sex.

Will I notice if I caught it?

Not always. Gonorrhea often has no symptoms. When it does, people with a penis may notice burning when they pee or a white, yellow or green discharge. People with a vagina may notice burning, more discharge than usual, or bleeding between periods. A sore throat can also be a sign, although it has many other causes.

Because silent infections are common, not having symptoms is not proof of being clear. Our guide on how long gonorrhea takes to show up covers the typical timeframes.

Should I get tested?

It depends on what happened.

• Only kissing, no symptoms: there is no known need to hurry. If you are worried, you can still order a test.
• Kissing plus any kind of sex: testing is worth doing. Order an online test and choose one that includes the samples that match the sex you had.
• Symptoms: order a test promptly, whatever you think the cause is.

Most of the time a urine sample is used to diagnose gonorrhea. If you have had oral or anal sex, swabs from the throat or rectum may be used as well. The NHS says STIs can take up to 7 weeks after unprotected sex to show up on a test, so if you have symptoms, test now. If you don’t, test about 7 weeks after the exposure. Our window periods guide explains more.

The CDC advises a gonorrhea test every year for sexually active gay and bisexual men, and for sexually active women who are under 25 or who are 25 and older with risk factors such as new or multiple partners.

How can I lower my risk?

• Use condoms correctly every time for vaginal and anal sex. For oral sex, the NHS suggests a condom over the penis or a latex or plastic square (dental dam) over the vulva.
• Test regularly if you have new or multiple partners. You can order a test online.
• Be open with partners. If one of you is diagnosed, both of you should avoid sex until you have each finished treatment and symptoms are gone, which the CDC says means waiting seven days after treatment ends.
• Don’t share sex toys, or cover them with a new condom for each person.

Gonorrhea can be cured with the right treatment, so a diagnosis is manageable. Our guide on how gonorrhea is treated explains what to expect.