Annually, there are millions of people who are victims of sexually transmitted diseases. However, this is poorly recognized since many STDs lack any visible characteristic signs during their early stages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that chlamydia alone infects more than a million a year. Many victims do not realize that they harbor the bacteria, unlike the easier-to-recognize cases of gonorrhea and syphilis. The hidden nature of chlamydia is the result of serious and sometimes irreparable damage to the reproductive systems of victims and prenatally infected babies, who can succumb to lung disorders or blindness.
Although healthcare professionals are highly trusted and effective treatments to control STDs are plentiful, these diseases remain rampant due to the unwillingness of victims or suspected patients to seek immediate medical attention. As a result of this fact, experts in the field of disease detection have designed the STD home test.
Anyone can buy an STD testing kit online or locally. Users only need to acquire urine, blood or oral samples and send the samples to the laboratory for fast and reliable analysis. In one or a few days, the user will be informed through a private text message or email of the result. There are also test kits that no longer require lab work and produce results right away like a pregnancy test kit. A positive result simply means swallowing some pride and immediately visiting the nearest doctor for disease suppression.
It will be helpful to know that one STD home test kit can vary significantly from another due to the fact that STDs are caused by a wide range of agents. STDs can be classified into three groups: parasitic, bacterial, and viral. STDs caused by parasites such as lice infestation and trichomoniasis are the most obvious among the three groups. Some of them can be cured without professional intervention. Bacterial STDs include gonorrhea and syphilis. These infections can be cured with antibiotics and therefore a clinical consultation is required. Viral STDs are caused by the smallest causative agents. These agents include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, the herpes virus, and the human papilloma virus, which is attributed to almost all cervical cancers. These diseases are the most difficult to control, and many non-curable STDs fall into this category.
As mentioned above, some diseases can be detected using a home test kit, which can be fully utilized by the client without any outside help. There are other kits that require user-collected samples to be sent to laboratories. On the contrary, there are also tests in which only trained professionals can perform the sampling. STD testing can also be separated in terms of whether a battery of tests is performed on the collected sample or only one type of test is being performed.
Various STD home test kits require different samples. There are STD test kits that require anal, vaginal, or penile swabs. On the other hand, there is also an STD test kit that requires a urine or blood sample. The required amount of sample is specified in the test kit manual. Typically, the kit contains all the containers and tools necessary for sample extraction.
To understand the dynamics of STD testing, it will be worth looking at two different HIV testing methods. One method involves the polymerase chain reaction or PCR. This requires a blood sample and requires less than a day to identify the result. The alternative method requires a urine sample that can be collected properly without any outside help, unlike the blood sample. This other method requires around fourteen days to complete.
The CDC strongly recommends that people who have sex frequently, especially with more than one intimate partner, get routine STD testing at least twice a year. The use of any suitable and reliable home test can lead to the extermination of diseases long before symptoms appear. Although test kit providers can be easily located, not everyone can be expected to order a test kit. A single STD test costs between $ 50 and more than $ 200, a price range that not everyone is willing to invest in. For those who do not intend to purchase any STD testing kits, diligent practice of protected sex can potentially reduce the chance of needing frequent STD testing.