STD testing

An STD test is a medical test for the presence of a sexually transmitted infection (STI).STD tests may test for a single infection, or consist of a number of individual tests for any of a wide range of STIs, including tests for syphilis, Trichomonas, gonorrhea, chlamydia, Herpes, hepatitis and HIV tests. No procedure tests for all infectious agents, so it is important to be aware what a given test detects.

STD tests may be used for a number of reasons:
* as a diagnostic test to determine the cause of symptoms or illness
* as a screening test to detect asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections
* as a check that prospective long-term sexual partners are free of disease before they engage in sex without safer sex precautions (for example, in fluid bonding, or to attempt to have a baby).
* as a check prior to or during pregnancy, to prevent harm to the baby
* as a check after birth, to check that the baby has not caught an STI from their mother
* to prevent the use of infected donated blood or organs
* as part of the process of contact tracing from a known infected individual
* as part of mass epidemiological surveillance

Not all STIs are symptomatic, and symptoms may not appear right away. In some instances a disease can be carried with no outward symptoms, which leaves a greater risk of passing the disease on to others.

There is often delay between becoming infected and the infection being detectable by testing. During this period the infection may be transmissible. The duration of this period varies depending on the infection and the test.

Dependence fallacy

A common fallacy is the view of STD testing as a kind of safer sex practice which overrides the actual practice of safer sex. Tests by definition are only informative and not preventative, and while important in keeping oneself and others informed of a partner's STD status, they do not take the place of preventative safer sex practices -- such as caution in selecting partners. However they are essential in the early treatment of STD's, and most STD's are treatable once discovered.

There are also many that do see STD testing as a kind of safer sex practice, so that patients can take preventative measures by making sure that unknown STD's aren't being spread to a sexual partner.

See also

* Reproductive health
* Serology
* Sexual health clinic
* STD Wizard