Contagious: Pubic lice

About contagion: Contagion and contagiousness refers to how easily the spread of Pubic lice is possible from one person to another. Other words for contagion include "infection", "infectiousness", "transmission" or "transmissability". Contagiousness has nothing to do with genetics or inheriting diseases from parents. For an overview of contagion, see Introduction to Contagion.

Contagion summary: Spread by sexual contact; rarely by bedding or clothing.

Contagiousness properties of Pubic lice:
  Contagious overall?: Yes
  Contagious by sex?: Yes
  Contagious by oral sex?: Yes
  Contagious by anal sex?: Yes
  Contagious by vaginal sex?: Yes
  Contagious even with safe sex?: Yes
  Contagious from bedding?: Yes, rarely.
  Contagious from clothing?: Yes, rarely.

Contagion summary: Pubic lice are usually spread through sexual contact. Rarely, infestation can be spread through contact with an infested person's bed linens, towels, or clothes. A common misbelief is that infestation can be spread by sitting on a toilet seat. This isn't likely, since lice cannot live long away from a warm human body. Also, lice do not have feet designed to walk or hold onto smooth surfaces such as toilet seats. ¹

Contagion discussion: Animals to not get or spread pubic lice.¹

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Pubic Lice or "Crabs": DPD

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