Can you get chlamydia from kissing?

Although chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection and it can be passed on easily through sexual exposure, it cannot be passed as easily as you might expect. In this blog, we discuss the different ways of catching chlamydia and answer common questions patients have.

So, can you get chlamydia from kissing? No, chlamydia cannot be passed on through kissing and you also can’t get chlamydia from sharing anything that someone has touched such as food, drinking glasses or towels. However, you can catch chlamydia through oral sex, which could include kissing both male and female genitals.

In the instance of practising oral sex, you should always use a condom unless you know for certain through STD testing that the other person does not have chlamydia.

How can you get chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection which can pass from one person to another through unprotected sex or sexual contact. This can include: –

• Vaginal sex
• Oral sex
• Anal sex
• Sharing sex toys
• Mutual masturbation

If you have sex with someone, you should always use a condom until you have both been tested. This is the only way to be sure of avoiding the transmission of chlamydia.

It is also possible to get chlamydia in your mouth. Find out more in the linked article.

Can you catch any STD from kissing?

Although you can’t catch chlamydia from kissing, there are some STDs that can be passed on in this way. The most common is herpes, including genital herpes or oral herpes. Genital herpes can be passed on through skin on skin contact with anyone who has active blisters or sores, commonly known as cold sores. With this in mind, you should avoid kissing or oral sex with anyone who has blisters or sores around their mouth or face. Unfortunately, depending what stage the herpes virus infection is in, it can still be contagious even if no blisters are present.

What to do if you think you have chlamydia?

For many people, chlamydia has no symptoms and can go completely undetected until you take a chlamydia STD test. If you’ve had unprotected sex with someone for the first time or someone you have had sex with has told you they have chlamydia, you should get tested.

The type of test that you take will depend on the type of exposure that you’ve had and may involve a simple urine sample or a swab sample. If you suspect that you have chlamydia, you should avoid having sex with anyone until you get your results. If your results are positive, you’ll be able to receive antibiotics to treat the infection, but should avoid sex until you retake your test and it returns negative.