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STI testing, explained.
Plain-language guides to STIs and STI testing in Australia: when to test, how often, what it costs and what your results mean.
When and how to test
- How often to get STI testingAt least yearly for most sexually active people and every 3 months for some, from the Australian STI Management Guidelines.
- How soon after sex can you test?Around 2 weeks for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, 6 to 12 weeks for HIV, and what to do in the meantime.
- Urine or swab: which STI sample you needWhy one urine sample often isn’t enough, and which swab or sample the lab needs for each kind of sex.
- Oral sex and STIs: do you need a throat swab?Which STIs pass through oral sex, why throat infections are easy to miss, and who the guidelines recommend a throat swab for.
- Testing with a new partner, before you stop using condomsWhen to test after a new partner, how to time it so the result counts, and what testing together can’t tell you.
- Getting an STI test without a clinic visitYour options for testing without a waiting room, who at-home testing suits and what to check in any online service.
- Rapid STI self-tests and lab testing: what’s the difference?How rapid self-tests compare with lab PCR testing, and what the TGA allows in Australia.
Testing for your situation
- STI testing for gay, bi and other men who have sex with menTesting every 3 months at three sites, with HIV and syphilis: what the guidelines recommend and what you can do at home.
- STI testing under 30: why once a year is the guideWhy the guidelines recommend STI testing at least once a year for everyone sexually active under 30, and what it covers.
Infections
- Chlamydia testing at homeWho should test, the 2-week window period, the samples the lab needs and what happens after a positive result.
- Gonorrhoea testing at homeWho should test, which sites to sample, the 2-week window period and treatment if a result is positive.
- HIV testing at homeThe ways to test for HIV in Australia, how soon each can be trusted and what a reactive result means.
- Syphilis: why it’s rising, and how to get testedWhy syphilis diagnoses have risen by more than half in 10 years, the signs at each stage, and how and where to get a blood test.
- What a routine STI check doesn’t test forWhy herpes, genital warts, Mycoplasma genitalium, trichomonas and bacterial vaginosis aren’t part of routine testing, and when they are tested.
Symptoms and prevention
- STI symptoms, and why most people have noneThe symptoms STIs can cause, what to do if you have one, and why most infections are only found by testing.
- UTI or STI? Burning when you peeWhy a urinary tract infection and an STI can feel the same, the signs that point to each, and why you need a test to tell.
- Do condoms protect against all STIs?What condoms protect against well, where they protect less, and how to use them and dental dams so they work.
Costs and results
- How much does STI testing cost in Australia?With Medicare, with overseas student or visitor cover, or with neither: what is bulk billed, what isn’t, and what each kind of service charges.
- Understanding your STI test resultsWhat negative, positive and inconclusive results mean, how long they take and what happens next.
- Can an STI test result be wrong?How lab testing finds infections, the ways an infection can be missed or a result can mislead, and when to test again.
Every article is reviewed by Dr Tom Morley, Prickly’s medical director, and lists its sources. It is general information, not medical advice, and it doesn’t replace a consultation with a doctor who knows your history.