STI Testing
Adults 18 and older can use this page for confidential STI testing. A provider asks, without judgment, about partners and exposed sites. Urine, swabs, and blood tests go to an outside laboratory. Onsite collection, stocked medicine, vaccines, and an accepting partner are not established. HIV exposure within 72 hours needs emergency PEP now. PEP is not PrEP.
Symptoms and questions to discuss
- Often no symptoms
- Burning urination or genital discharge
- Rectal pain, discharge, or bleeding
- Sore throat after oral sex
- Painless sore, palm or sole rash, or swollen glands
- Pelvic or testicular pain, fever, or bleeding after sex
What we check
- Age, possible pregnancy, and symptoms today
- Partners, condom use, and exposed body sites
- A prior STI, HIV status, and a partner with an STI
- A new partner, more than one partner, or a partner with other partners
- Whether you can return for the result
Treatment options by class
Your provider reviews appropriate options and follow-up based on your assessment.
- Outside nucleic-acid testing of urine or swabs matched to the exposed site
- Syphilis and HIV blood tests when screening applies
- Treatment before results only for that CDC situation, not for every person
- Guidance for partners from about the prior 60 days, with no visit arranged here
- Retesting about 3 months after chlamydia or gonorrhea treatment
When we refer
Go to emergency care now for possible HIV exposure within 72 hours, sexual assault, sudden or severe testicular pain, severe pelvic/abdominal pain even without fever, or fainting. Ask about PEP after recent HIV exposure; do not wait for this visit or an outside test. This program does not provide PEP or forensic examination. Positive HIV, persistent cervicitis, or continuing pain needs appropriate outside care and confirmed handoff. Pregnancy and patients under 18 need an appropriate separate pathway.
How testing is chosen
For adults in this 18+ pathway, screen sexually active women through age 24 for chlamydia and gonorrhea, and from 25 when risk is increased. USPSTF finds evidence insufficient for routine screening in men. CDC recommends at least annual screening for men who have sex with men, selecting urine, rectal, or throat-gonorrhea samples according to exposed sites. Routine throat-chlamydia screening is not recommended. More frequent screening depends on ongoing risk. HIV screening includes adults through 65 and older adults at increased risk; symptoms require diagnostic assessment rather than screening alone.
What care can start
Onsite collection, a contracted lab, and medicine here are not established. There is no standard wait, and treatment is not automatic. Treat an inflamed cervix before results if risk is higher, return is uncertain, or testing cannot be done. Lower risk can wait. Treat men before results if inflamed and microscopy is unavailable, or if risk is high and return is unlikely. Treat nongonococcal urethritis at diagnosis. The protocol is unsigned. HPV and hepatitis B vaccines go through a pharmacy or health department.
Who reviews the result
Confirm who reviews the outside result, how you will receive it, whom to contact if delayed, and who remains responsible during referral. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are reportable. Ask about confidential partner notification and public-health processes; do not assume partners cannot be contacted. Recent partners may need separate assessment. Retest about 3 months after chlamydia or gonorrhea treatment. Syphilis follow-up depends on stage and response. Positive HIV requires experienced outside care; acceptance by a named clinic is not established.
When to skip this visit
Possible HIV exposure within 72 hours needs emergency evaluation now for PEP, without waiting for this visit. PrEP is not a substitute. Sexual assault, sudden or severe testicular pain, severe pelvic or abdominal pain even without fever, or fainting also needs emergency care. A new rash with fever needs urgent assessment. No forensic exam is provided here. Call 911 for severe illness or unsafe transport.
Frequently asked questions
Can I be tested if I feel well?
Yes. Testing follows age, partners, and exposed sites, including when you feel well and when the throat or rectum is involved.
Will I get medicine at this visit?
Stocked medicine is not established. Before-result treatment can still fit some inflamed cervices and some male inflammation. No drug is named here.
Does a urine test cover every site?
No. Samples depend on exposure: receptive anal sex may need rectal testing, and exposure involving the throat may need gonorrhea testing there. Urine alone can miss infections at other sites. Confirm collection method, location, cost, and result ownership; onsite collection is unverified.
Can my partner be treated here?
Partners may need their own assessment and treatment; confirm where that care can occur. This draft does not establish partner-treatment access or supplied medicine. Ask how notification, confidentiality, and applicable public-health reporting work rather than assuming no partner will be contacted.
When do I retest, and when can I have sex?
For chlamydia/gonorrhea, follow the provider’s regimen-specific instructions: generally wait 7 days after single-dose treatment or finish the 7-day course, with symptoms resolved and partners treated. Retest about 3 months after treatment. Persistent symptoms need reassessment.
Sources
- Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: Screening — U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Syphilis Infection in Nonpregnant Adolescents and Adults: Screening — U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Screening — U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Diseases Characterized by Urethritis and Cervicitis — STI Treatment Guidelines, 2021 — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Retesting After Treatment to Detect Repeat Infections — STI Treatment Guidelines — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Men Who Have Sex With Men — STI Treatment Guidelines, 2021 — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Clinical Guidance for PEP — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Partner Services — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Testicle pain — National Health Service
Content approved by Viva Centers