How long can chlamydia live on a surface

In this chapter, you will learn how to protect your partner from chlamydia.

Chlamydia is a very contagious infection and can be transmitted through various kinds of contact: genital to genital, oral to genital, genital to rectal, oral to rectal, and via sex toys.

To protect your partner, you need to understand

• how the transmission occurs,
• common chlamydia myths, and
• the chance of getting chlamydia in sexual and nonsexual ways.

Let’s start!

How chlamydia is transmitted

Chlamydia usually affects the mucosal surfaces—that is, the inner lining of the urethra, vagina, rectum, eyes, and oral cavity. Once a mucosal area is infected with chlamydia, it becomes inflamed and develops a discharge. Discharge from an infected person comes into contact with a susceptible person’s mucosa (in the penile, vaginal, oral, or rectal areas) and the process repeats.

The truth about common chlamydia misconceptions

• Chlamydia can be contracted multiple times. The body’s immune system gives no long-term protection against it.
• Chlamydia infection can be spread by a person with or without symptoms.
• Chlamydia infection can be passed without ejaculation.
• Chlamydia infection can be passed even during the first few days after treatment.

Various ways chlamydia can be transmitted

This table shows the chance of getting chlamydia in sexual and nonsexual ways.

Chlamydia infection’s survival outside the body

This table summarizes how long chlamydia bacteria survive on various surfaces.

Note: These are estimates; the bacteria’s survival time will vary depending on the humidity and temperature of their environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, our expert doctor will discuss a few aspects of protecting your partner from chlamydia in more depth. We have reviewed real-life patient questions and grouped them into topics so the doctor can answer them clearly.

Dr. Fuzayloff has been a practicing physician at a busy STD center in Midtown Manhattan, NYC, for over two decades.

• What can I do to protect my partner?

  Chlamydia can affect the oral, genital or rectal area.

  For you to transmit chlamydia to your partner, your infected fluids have to come into contact with your partner’s mucosa. Do the following things to prevent this from happening:

  • Avoid allowing your infected area to contact anyone else’s skin while you have symptoms and for seven days after treatment.
  • Don’t let your partner touch your infected area.
  • Don’t share sex toys.
  • Wash your hands with soap after touching your infected area.

  Remember: It is recommended that you notify all: ; your sex partners within the last 60 days about your chlamydia status. Suggest that they undergo a proper medical examination and testing. This will prevent further infection and possible health complications.

• What’s the chance that I’ll pass chlamydia to my partner during protected sex?

  It is possible to transmit chlamydia even if you use a condom:

  • 13.3% with consistent condom use
  • 34.4% with inconsistent condom use

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

• Can I pass chlamydia to someone who just sleeps in the same bed with me?

  Chlamydia can survive for up to 24 hours on wet fabric and 30 minutes on dry fabric.

  It’s very unlikely that anyone will get chlamydia from bedding or through sharing the same bed. The chance is close to 0%. Here’s why:

  For transmission to another person to occur:

  • Chlamydia-infected fluid has to come into direct contact with another person’s mucosa. That means the infected fluid would have to touch the fabric and the exact same part of the fabric would have to come into contact with the mucosa of the partner—the inner portion of the mouth, rectum, vagina, or urethra.
  • And this contact of the fabric to the partner’s mucosa would need to occur within a short time (less than 30 minutes), while the chlamydia bacteria are highly concentrated and still alive.

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

• Can chlamydia be transmitted via a toilet seat?

  Some laboratory studies have proven that chlamydia bacteria–containing fluids maintain their infectiousness for around 2–3 hours (in humid conditions) on a toilet seat. Importantly, the bacteria-containing fluid was able to maintain its infectiousness until it dried.

  However, it is considered very unlikely that a person will contract chlamydia through the toilet seat. It’s only a theoretical possibility. Here’s why:

  • Infected fluids from a person with chlamydia would have to touch the toilet. But these fluids usually come from the urethra, vagina, or rectum, all of which rarely come into direct contact with a toilet seat.
  • Another person would then have to sit on that same toilet seat and their mucosa in the vagina, urethra, or rectum would have to come into direct contact with the spot on the toilet seat where the chlamydia-containing fluid is. But the area that usually comes into contact with a toilet seat is the skin of the thigh.
  • Moreover, the chlamydia fluid would need to be abundant and wet at the time of the second person’s contact with it.

  There is no scientific evidence of chlamydia transmission from toilet seats in real-life situations.

• Can chlamydia be transmitted via common utensils?

  No, according to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), chlamydia cannot be transmitted via utensils.

  However, there is a theoretical risk (not proven in practice) of transmission of pharyngeal (oral) chlamydia via utensils because chlamydia bacteria can survive on wooden surfaces (for 2 hours) and metal surfaces (for 10 minutes).

• Can chlamydia be transmitted through touch?

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

  Again, transmission occurs when one person’s chlamydia-infected fluid touches a mucosal surface of another person (their vagina, urethra, rectum, mouth, or eyes). This doesn’t happen with friendly touch and hugs.

  However, chlamydia may be spread from one area of the body to another part of the same person’s body if the person touches the infected area and then touches his or her genitals, eyes, or anal mucosa. This is called autoinfection.

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