Saving Lives Through STD Testing

Sexually transmitted disease or STD is an illness that is spread primarily through sexual intimacy.  It is also sometimes referred to as sexually transmitted infection or STI because oftentimes a person can contract the infection without exhibiting any symptom of the disease.  In this case, an STD testing can check for presence of certain pathogens.

Diagnostic and screening tests check for presence of STI as well as help determine the cause of the illness. They primarily allow patients to treat their illness at the onset when it is easiest to defeat.  However, some forms of STDs need to “cultivate” inside the body enough for natural antibodies to develop and become evident in the tests.  For instance, HIV will take weeks or even months from the onset of infection before it can be detected in the tests.

There are many different kinds of STD testing, each of which targets a specific type of STD.  There are a few kinds of tests that are stringed together and administered one time.
Not one, however, can detect all kinds of STDs.

Some STD tests require simple blood or urine samples while others need fluid from the vagina or penis or from an open sore.

STD-Proofing the Family

Some couples resort to STD testing to check for the safety of their potential long-time partners, particularly when planning for a baby.  They also rely on clean test result as the ticket to engaging in unprotected sex.  This is, however, a popular misconception as nothing beats practicing safer sex in preventing the spread of STD.

Infants of one or both sets of infected parents are also screened for presence of STI.  Even during pregnancy, an infected mother is required to undergo tests to ensure the safety of the unborn child.

Contact Tracing

STD testing is likewise used in epidemiology, such as in contact tracing for people who may have come in contact with a person who is infected with STD.  Contact tracing, sometimes called partner notification, aims to find the primary carrier of the infection and those that he or she has subsequently infected in order to administer treatment and prevent further spreading of the infection.

Contact testing takes a crucial role in the fight against AIDS.  In the early years of discovery of the disease, gay rights activists strongly detested partner notification which puts in danger the privacy of HIV-infected people, making them vulnerable to widespread injustice during that time. Recently, however, more and more people submit themselves voluntarily to HIV testing under contact testing programs in light of the promising treatment options available nowadays. GP