Hi

Staphylococcus aureus (staph) is a common bacteria that many people have on their skin or in their nose. Up to 25% of people will have the bacteria and for most people it does not cause any symptoms or concerns.

In certain situations people can develop staph infections of the skin or the respiratory tract for example sinus infections. A common way that people can get skin staph infections is if the skin gets broken and the bacteria on the skin gets into the wound. Cleaning any new wounds and washing your hands before and after touching a wound will help prevent staph infections. Staph infections can be treated with antibiotics.

We don’t consider staphylococcus aureus to be a sexually transmitted infection but at the same time it is something that is passed from skin to skin contact. I am not sure what type of staph infection your boyfriend has but I can give some general suggestions. If your boyfriend has a skin infection I would recommend not coming in direct contact with the wound and have your boyfriend wash his hands and cover the wound if possible.

Hand washing is a good way to prevent staph infections passing to other parts of your body or to someone else.

In regard to testing for staph this really depends on what type of staph infection your boyfriend has and if you are getting any symptoms. I would just recommend talking with your boyfriend’s health care professional to see if they recommend anything for you. In most situations they would not do any testing for partners who do not have any symptoms.

In regard to testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI), this really depends on your own situation. STI are common and most people do not get symptoms, have a look at our page on when to test for suggestions on when to get a STI test.
 

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

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