STD Tests You Should Be Aware Of
There are various kinds of reasons why a person will be contemplating on getting an STD testing. Even doctors and medical professionals have different opinions when it comes to who must be tested for sexually transmitted disease. Generally speaking though, the moment an official recommendation is released, it is mostly based on sexual activity and infection rates, translated into statistics. But on a personal perspective, it still is best to gather your own information and educate yourself, especially if there is reason to believe that you may be prone to getting an STD.
In reality, there’s nothing wrong in trying to learn more about STD testing guidelines and it in fact can provide you very helpful information about the possibility of you getting tested based on certain factors such as your sexual activity.
Now if you look at yourself as a sexually active person, CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly recommends that you surrender yourself to an HIV testing, whether you’re a typical adult or a pregnant woman. Thanks to modern technology, there now are urine testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia, which means it no longer is as invasive as before. Know that everyone has the right and freedom to go to a doctor and have these tests requested.
For individuals who are under the age of 24, it is also recommended to get STD testing for the reason that a 2006 surveillance report from CDC revealed a stunning fact, stating that half of STD cases during that year belonged to the age group of 15 to 24. This is very true when it comes to common diseases like HIV, syphilis, and gonorrhea. Remember though that there’s really no uniform or established standard on how often you should get tested; the best way to figure that out is by evaluating or looking closely at your sexual behavior.
Now you may be asking what if you’re a male who exclusively conducts sexual relationships with women? If you happen to be in this distinction, you should know that doctors don’t really need to test you for all STD types except for HIV. However, there still are cases when you are required to get tested, say for instance when you’re showing symptoms of a specific STD that’s not HIV.
Lastly, if you consider yourself as a man who is sexually active with other men, then you must make it a point to get tested for both HIV and syphilis. The reason for this is because this particular group has high rates of getting those infections compared to other groups. But the frequency of your screenings generally depend on the number of partners and how active your sex behavior is.