Gonorrhoea from kissing??

[peachy]

So a few days ago all this STI surveillance data got released and there have been a few articles reporting on it saying that there’s a real possibility the rise in gonorrhoea in Australia could be due to kissing! I’ve definitely had a few casual kisses before and never thought about how you do that safely. Any tips?

[tea]

First I was like OH NO! NO CASUAL SMOOCHING? But then I read on to realise you probably need to have oral sex before smooching for there to be any risk involved. Unless that person had oral sex with someone else before, and didn’t use mouthwash and became infected? Does this mean we’re heading towards a no-kissing-before-marriage culture? (I mean obv not anytime soon, but it’s definitely a possibility with how STI’s and contraction has been evolving over the years recently).

[peachy]

@tea so interesting! Would the threat of oral STIs be enough to stop people from kissing before marriage? On the flip side, I wonder if taking mini bottles of mouthwash with you in case of casual encounters, like you would with condoms, will become normal too?

[MintMilano]

I don’t know, I feel kind of skeptical about that? Like to get oral gonorrhoea from someone you’d pretty much have to be licking their tonsils or something, right? Which, while not totally impossible, feels unlikely. 

[peachy]

@MintMilano yeah it does feel kind of unlikely. I wondered whether really slobbery kissing transmits it but apparently saliva contains gonorrhoea-killing enzymes?

[Nurse_Nettie]

Thanks for the topic @peachy! There has been some recent research that suggests deep tongue kissing *might* transmit gonorrhoea, but there’s not enough evidence yet to prove it. The research will continue, but for now there are no new guidelines for testing or prevention of gonorrhoea. Condoms for oral, vaginal, & anal sex plus regular STI testing is still your best defense!    

[peachy]

Thanks @Nurse_Nettie !

[champagnepapi]

Oh no! I was planning to do a LOT of casual kissing this summer hahahaha. 

[tea]

@champagnepapi I did so so much casual kissing over the summer!! And I’m STI free so that’s a plus? 😉

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