The long-held position of sexual health experts is that gonorrhoea is transmitted by the penis, but an Australian researcher is studying the possibility the infection can be spread by kissing.

The debate comes as Australia's gonorrhoea rates have more than tripled in the past nine years.

At the STI and HIV World Conference in Vancouver on Thursday, Professor Kit Fairley from Monash University will be arguing his case in a debate with Professor Emeritus H. Hunter Handsfield from the University of Washington.

Professor Fairley said his research suggests gonorrhoea can be transmitted by kissing, while Professor Handsfield said more research needs to be done. Credit:Alamy

Professor Fairley, who is also the director of the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, said his five years of research was important given the global prevalence of the infection.