Less than a third of the men reported having all three types of partner, but most had at least two of the types. At an average age of 30, almost all of the men had kissing-with-sex partners in the past three months, and 70 percent had kissing-only partners, but just 38 percent had sex-only partners. About six percent had anorectal gonorrhea and three percent had urethral gonorrhea. The survey asked about the number of male partners during the past three months in three separate categories: kissing-only, sex-only and kissing-with-sex.Īll of the men were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, and 229 men, about six percent, had throat gonorrhea infections. “This may help people understand how the infection was introduced, particularly if they haven’t been sexually active.”Ĭhow and colleagues surveyed 3,677 men who have sex with men between March 2016 and February 2017 at the Melbourne Sexual Health Center, which offers free walk-in service. “Kissing may be riskier than previously thought,” Chow told Reuters Health by email.
