Yeast infections are not sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but it is possible to pass yeast infections to your partner during sex. You do not have to be sexually active to get a vaginal yeast infection.
What STDs feel like a yeast infection? Some STDs can cause irritation, itching, and discharge—symptoms that can be mistaken for a yeast infection. These include trichomoniasis, herpes, and genital warts.
Although uncommon, men can get a yeast infection by having unprotected sex with a woman with candidal vaginitis. It usually appears as small white spots, redness, or a dry, peeling rash on the penis accompanied by itching, irritation, or burning. Men who have not been circumcised are at an increased risk.
Yeast infections in men are common because the fungus that causes yeast infections (candida) is normally present on skin, especially moist skin. When some contributing factor — such as having sex with a partner who has a vaginal yeast infection — causes an overgrowth of candida, infection can result.
"You should start by telling your partner that vaginal yeast infection is not a sexually transmitted disease," says Wiyatta Freeman, MD, a gynecologist at Baylor Medical Center in Irving, Texas. The yeast that causes vaginal yeast infection is a type of fungus called Candida albicans.
Candida normally lives on the skin and mucous membranes, but if too much grows, it can cause symptoms. Symptoms include an itchy rash, red skin, swelling, irritation, and itching around the head of the penis, lumpy discharge under the foreskin, or pain when urinating and during sex.
It is not usually spread to sex partners. They are treated only if they have a problem. Sometimes yeast infection can cause a painful swelling of the tip of the penis in men. This can be treated with an antifungal cream.
When a woman has too much Candida in her vagina, then we say she has a yeast infection. A yeast infection is not considered a sexually transmitted disease (STD) because you don't have to have sex to get it.
If the source of your infection is a sexually transmitted infection, you may also spread the infection to your partner. If you have chronic yeast infections (candidiasis), confirmed by a doctor, you may have sex without concern for worsening symptoms as long as you're comfortable.
The short answer is no. Vaginal yeast infections cannot be transmitted solely from sexual contact with someone who has a yeast infection.
Treatment of a sexual partner — Vaginal yeast infection is not a sexually transmitted infection, although the infection may rarely be passed from one partner to another. Experts do not recommend treatment of a sexual partner.
However, the most common symptoms of invasive candidiasis are fever and chills that don't improve after antibiotic treatment for suspected bacterial infections. Other symptoms can develop if the infection spreads to other parts of the body, such as the heart, brain, eyes, bones, or joints.
White patches on the inner cheeks, tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat (photo showing candidiasis in the mouth) Redness or soreness. Cotton-like feeling in the mouth. Loss of taste.
Skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis as well as lichen sclerosus, an inflammatory condition that is more common in postmenopausal people, can mimic symptoms of a yeast infection.
Here are a few “warning signs” to look out for, if you think you might have a Candida infection: exhaustion, cravings for sweets, bad breath, brain fog, hormone imbalance, joint pain, chronic sinus and allergy issues, and digestive problems.
Invasive candidiasis is an infection caused by a yeast (a type of fungus) called Candida. Unlike Candida infections in the mouth and throat (also called “thrush”) or vaginal “yeast infections,” invasive candidiasis is a serious infection that can affect the blood, heart, brain, eyes, bones, and other parts of the body.
Is Candida albicans contagious? Normally, yeast infections are not contagious, but Candida albicans infections have the potential to spread to different hosts if you have a weakened immune system or if you are taking certain medications.
Capric acid, otherwise known as caprylic acid, is fast and effective at eliminating Candida overgrowth, making it one of the strongest candida killers.