Kissing may be an important and neglected risk factor for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea: A cross-sectional study in men who have sex with men

EPF Chow; VJ Cornelisse; DA Williamson; D Priest; JS Hocking; CS Bradshaw; TRH Read; MY Chen; BP Howden; CK Fairley

Journal article

Kissing may be an important and neglected risk factor for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea: A cross-sectional study in men who have sex with men

EPF Chow, VJ Cornelisse, DA Williamson, D Priest, JS Hocking, CS Bradshaw, TRH Read, MY Chen, BP Howden, CK Fairley

Sexually Transmitted Infections | BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2019

DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2018-053896

Abstract

Objectives A mathematical model suggested that a significant proportion of oropharyngeal gonorrhoea cases are acquired via oropharynx-to-oropharynx transmission (ie, tongue-kissing), but to date, no empirical study has investigated this. This study aimed to examine the association between kissing and oropharyngeal gonorrhoea among gay and bisexual men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods MSM attending a public sexual health centre in Melbourne, Australia, between March 2016 and February 2017 were invited to participate in a brief survey that collected data on their number of male partners in the last 3 months, in three distinct categories: kissing-only (ie, no sex including no oral and/or an..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Eric Chow Author

Deborah Williamson Author

Jane Hocking Author

Catriona Bradshaw Author

Related Projects (3)

IMPROVING PREVENTION, TRACKING AND TREATMENT OF MAJOR HUMAN BACTERIAL PATHOGENS

This research fellowship will lead to a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which bacteria become resistant to antibiotics and cause..

UNDERSTANDING, REDUCING AND PREVENTING COMMUNICABLE DISEASES USING APPLIED PATHOGEN GENOMICS

Infectious diseases are a major threat to human health. New molecular methods, particularly whole genome sequencing, promise a revolution in..

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND INTERVENTIONS

Sexually transmitted infections are important causes of serious illness and death in Australia and overseas with high or rising rates of tre..

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

EPFC, DAW and TRHR are supported by the Early Career Fellowships from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (1091226, 1123854 and 1091536 respectively) and NHMRC Program Programme grant (568971). BPH is supported by an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (1105905). VJC is supported by a Research Training Scheme Scholarship from the Australian Government's Department of Education and Training.