Can You Get an STD From…?

No. This is one of the most persistent myths, and it's simply not true: you cannot get an STI from a toilet seat, a towel, a swimming pool or hot tub, sharing a drink, or a handshake. The organisms that cause STIs don't survive on surfaces and aren't spread by casual contact. STIs are passed through sexual contact: vaginal, anal, or oral sex, skin-to-skin genital contact, and shared sex toys.

Mostly no, with two exceptions. Casual kissing with no visible sores is low-risk. But oral herpes (HSV-1) spreads easily through kissing, it's extremely common and often shows up as cold sores, and syphilis can pass through direct oral contact if there's an active sore. Kissing does not transmit HIV, chlamydia, or gonorrhea.

Yes, more than many people realize. Oral sex can transmit gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HPV, and carries a lower risk for HIV and hepatitis B. Throat gonorrhea in particular is common and usually causes no symptoms, so it's missed unless you specifically get a throat swab. Condoms and dental dams lower the risk.

Yes, if they're shared without cleaning or covering. Infected fluids can stay on a toy and reach the next person's mucous membranes, passing infections like HPV, herpes, trichomoniasis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. The fix is easy: cover toys with a condom and change it between partners, don't share without cleaning, and wash toys between uses, that drops the risk to near zero.

Some, yes. The STIs that spread by skin-to-skin contact, herpes, HPV, syphilis (from a sore), molluscum contagiosum, and pubic lice, can pass through genital skin-to-skin contact, grinding, or fingering, even without penetration and sometimes with no visible symptoms. The fluid-borne infections (HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea) need more direct exposure, so their risk from these activities is low.

A tool like this tells you what's possible, not what happened to you, only a test can do that. If you've had an exposure you're worried about, test at the right time for the infection in question, and remember most STIs cause no symptoms, so feeling fine isn't proof you're clear.