How long can gonorrhea live on surfaces

In this chapter you will learn how to protect you partner from getting gonorrhea. Gonorrhea is a very contagious infection and can be transmitted different ways: genital to genital, oral to genital, genital to rectal, oral to rectal contacts, and by sex toys.

To protect your partner, you need to understand

• How the infection is transmitted,
• Common gonorrhea myths, and
• The chance of contracting gonorrhea sexually and non-sexually.

Let’s start!

How gonorrhea is transmitted

Gonorrhea usually affects mucosal surfaces. The inside of the urethra, vagina, rectum, and oral cavity are lined with mucosa. Infection of mucosa is followed by inflammation and discharge. Discharge from the infected person comes into contact with a susceptible person’s mucosa (in the penile, vaginal, oral, or rectal area), and the process repeats.

Explanations of common misconceptions about gonorrhea

• Gonorrhea can be contracted multiple times. The immune system does not give long-term protection against gonorrhea.
• The infection can be spread by someone with or without symptoms.
• The infection can be passed without ejaculation.
• The infection can be passed even within the first few days of treatment.

How gonorrhea is transmitted

The table below shows the chance of getting gonorrhea in sexual and nonsexual ways.

The gonorrhea infection’s survival outside the body

This table summarizes how long gonorrhea bacteria survive on different surfaces.

Note: These are estimates; actual numbers may vary based on the humidity and temperature of the environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we summarize real patients’ questions, grouped by topic, and Dr. Fuzayloff’s answers to them. “Dr. F” (his patients’ name for him) has been an STD doctor for over two decades in Midtown Manhattan, NYC.

• What can I do to protect my partner?

  Gonorrhea can affect the oral, genital or rectal area. For the infection to be passed, fluid from an infected area must come into contact with a partner’s mucosa. So, to prevent it from happening, follow these recommendations:

  • Avoid contact with the infected area while you have symptoms and for seven days after treatment
  • Don’t let your partner touch the infected area
  • Don’t share sex toys
  • Wash your hands with soap after touching your infected area

  Remember: When you’re diagnosed with gonorrhea, it’s recommended that you notify all your sex partners within the last 60 days. Suggest that they undergo a medical examination and testing. This will prevent reinfection and possible health complications.

• What is the chance of passing gonorrhea to a sex partner if you use protection?

  The chance of passing and getting the infection is high even with protection. Even with condom use, the transmission rates are as follows:

  • 78.3% from males to females
  • 26.1% from females to males

  Moreover, gonorrhea may be transmitted via oral sex, sex toys, and fingering.

• Can gonorrhea be transmitted by sleeping in the same bed?

  Gonorrhea can survive for up to 24 hours on wet fabric and 30 minutes on dry fabric. The chance of getting gonorrhea through bedding or sharing the same bed is very unlikely (close to 0%). For transmission to happen, here’s what would be necessary:

  • Gonorrhea-infected fluid would have to come into direct contact with a partner’s mucosa. This means that the fluid would have to touch fabric and the exact same area of the fabric would have to come into contact with the inside of the partner’s mouth, rectum, vagina or urethra.
  • Furthermore, this would have to occur within less than 30 minutes, while the gonorrhea bacteria were still alive and present in a high concentration.

  According to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), gonorrhea can’t be spread via common utensils, bedding, or clothing.

• Can gonorrhea be transmitted via a toilet seat?

  Laboratory studies proved that gonorrhea bacteria-containing fluids maintain their infectiousness for around 17 hours on a toilet seat. Importantly, these fluids were able to maintain their infectiousness until they dried up.

  But it is considered very unlikely that a person would contract gonorrhea via a toilet seat (it’s only a theoretical possibility). Here’s why:

  1. Infected fluids from the person with gonorrhea would have to touch the toilet seat. These fluids usually come from the urethra, vagina, or rectum, and those parts of the body rarely come into direct contact with a toilet seat.

  2. Another person would then have to sit on the same toilet seat and the mucosa of their vagina, urethra, or rectum would have to come into direct contact with the spot on the toilet seat where the gonorrhea-containing fluid from the previous person was. This is unlikely because the area of the body that usually touches a toilet seat is the thigh.

  3. Moreover, the gonorrhea-infected fluid would have to be abundant and wet when it came into contact with the mucosa of the second person.

  So, there is no scientific evidence of gonorrhea transmission via toilet seats in the real world.

• Can gonorrhea be transmitted via common utensils?

  No, according to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), gonorrhea cannot be transmitted through utensils. However, there is a theoretical risk (not proven in practice) of transmission of pharyngeal (oral) gonorrhea via utensils because gonorrhea bacteria survive on wood for two hours and on metal for 10 minutes.

• Can gonorrhea be transmitted through nonsexual touch?

  According to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), gonorrhea cannot be transmitted through touching or hugging.

  Again, transmission occurs when an infected person has wet gonorrhea-infected fluid on a surface that touches a mucosal surface of another person (the inside of the vagina, urethra, rectum, mouth, or eyes). This cannot happen with friendly touch and hugs.

  However, gonorrhea may be spread from one area of a person’s body to another area of the same person’s body if they touch the infected area and then touch their genitals, eyes, or anal mucosa. This is called autoinfection.