How Does A Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Test Work
Screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea can be done at home or at a clinic. A sample of urine is typically sent to a laboratory, which checks the urine for chlamydia and gonorrhea DNA. If you are using the Everlywell at-home test, youâll receive secure, online results just a few days after the lab receives your sample.
Learn more:How to test for gonorrhea
What Happens During A Gonorrhea Test
If you are a woman, a sample may be taken from your cervix. For this procedure, you will lie on your back on an exam table, with your knees bent. You will rest your feet in supports called stirrups. Your health care provider will use a plastic or metal instrument called a speculum to open the vagina, so the cervix can be seen. Your provider will then use a soft brush or plastic spatula to collect the sample.
If you are a man, your provider may take a swab from the opening of your urethra.
For both men and women, a sample may be taken from a suspected area of infection, such as the mouth or rectum. Urine tests are also used for both men and women.
Some gonorrhea tests can be done with an at-home STD test kit. If your health care provider recommends at-home testing, be sure to follow all directions carefully.
Your health care provider may order tests for other STDs when you get a gonorrhea test. These may include tests for chlamydia, syphilis, and/or HIV.
How Will I Get The Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Test Result
You will receive a notification email informing you that your results are available. This email will contain a link to the secure communications area where your results will be available. Please read the email for important information associated with the login process. Once you have successfully logged into the secure communication area, additional instructions will be available to guide you to the appropriate area to view, print and/or save your results.
Read Also: What Medication Is Used For Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
How Reliable Is Urine Testing For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Am Fam Physician. 2005 Dec 1 72:2354.
Until recently, testing patients for chlamydia and gonorrhea involved collecting samples from the cervix or urethra and sending them for cultures. The discomfort and embarrassment associated with sampling these sites may deter some high-risk patients from seeking testing for these treatable infections. An alternative to cervical or urethral cultures is nucleic acid amplification tests that can be performed on urine samples. Three types of NAAT are commercially available: polymerase chain reaction , transcription-mediated amplification, and strand displacement amplification. However, concerns remain about the sensitivity and specificity of the NAAT compared with culture techniques. Cook and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the literature to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the NAAT for detecting chlamydia and gonorrhea in urine samples with that of cervical and urethral samples.
The authors conclude that all three commercially available NAATs have high sensitivity and specificity for chlamydia regardless of the site of sample collection. With the exception of PCR for detection of gonorrhea in women, urine samples perform as well as samples collected from other sites. The authors suggest that the widespread use of NAATs on urine samples may improve adherence to screening recommendations for these common sexually transmitted diseases.
Read the full article.
What Do The Results Mean
A positive result means you have been infected with chlamydia. The infection requires treatment with antibiotics. Your health care provider will give you instructions on how to take your medicine. Be sure to take all the required doses. In addition, let your sexual partner know you tested positive for chlamydia, so he or she can be tested and treated promptly.
Learn more about laboratory tests, reference ranges, and understanding results.
Read Also: What Medicine Is Used To Treat Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
Most people with chlamydia are asymptomatic and will not have any symptoms. In cases in which symptoms do develop, the onset of symptoms may take weeks to develop after initial exposure. According to the CDC, women will typically show signs and symptoms of cervicitis and urethritis, along with other symptoms such as abdominal pain, cervical motion tenderness, and uterine tenderness. Men will typically experience urethritis and may also experience testicular pain, tenderness, and swelling. As is the case with chlamydia, most people with gonorrhea are asymptomatic and will not have any symptoms. According to the CDC, when symptoms are present, some of the symptoms men may experience are white, yellow, or green urethral discharge, and possibly testicular or scrotal pain. Symptoms for women may include dysuria, vaginal discharge, or vaginal bleeding between periods.
How Are Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Treated
Both chlamydia and gonorrhea can be treated with medication. The CDC recommends that chlamydia be treated with antibiotics, and that gonorrhea be treated with dual therapy. It is important that treatment directions be followed in order to ensure that treatment is successful.
Even with successful treatment, it is important to note that a person can be re-infected with either chlamydia or gonorrhea at any time. For this reason, it is important to continue testing as indicated and to encourage sexual partners to get tested and to seek treatment as necessary.
Don’t Miss: How Can Chlamydia Affect Pregnancy
What Happens During A Chlamydia Test
If you are a woman, your health care provider will use a small brush or swab to take a sample of cells from your vagina for testing. You may also be offered the option of testing yourself at home using a test kit. Ask your provider for recommendations on which kit to use. If you do the test at home, be sure to follow all the directions carefully.
If you’re a man, your health care provider may use a swab to take a sample from your urethra, but it is more likely that a urine test for chlamydia will be recommended. Urine tests can also be used for women. During a urine test, you will be instructed to provide a clean catch sample.
The clean catch method generally includes the following steps:
When Should I Get Chlamydia Testing
As most people infected with chlamydia do not experience symptoms, doctors rely on screening to detect most cases of chlamydia. Screening guidelines vary based on many factors, including a persons anatomy, health, and sexual practices. Regular screening for chlamydia is recommended for several groups:
Certain factors increase the risk of contracting chlamydia and may affect how often a person should be screened. Risk factors include having:
- Sex with a new partner
- More than one sexual partner or a partner who has sex with mutiple people
- A sex partner diagnosed with an STD
Testing for chlamydia is more frequently conducted in asymptomatic people in settings where infection rates are high, which often includes correctional facilities, adolescent health clinics, the military, and sexual health clinics.
Diagnostic chlamydia testing is recommended for anyone with signs or symptoms of this infection. When symptoms do occur, they may not appear until a few weeks after exposure. Signs and symptoms of chlamydia can vary based on the site of infection but may include:
- Burning during urination
- Abnormal discharge from the vagina, penis, or rectum
- Vaginal bleeding after sex or pain during intercourse
- Pain, tenderness, or swelling in the testicles or scrotum
- Rectal pain
Recommended Reading: How You Know If You Got Chlamydia
Question 4 Can Naats Be Used For Test
Per the CDC guidelines for chlamydial infections, an NAAT can be used for test-of-cure if performed 3 to 4 weeks after the end of treatment.4 This is appropriate when therapeutic adherence is in question, symptoms persist, or reinfection is suspected.4 Testing earlier than 3 to 4 weeks after treatment may produce a clinically false-positive result due to detection of nucleic acids from nonviable organisms.6
For patients with urogenital or rectal gonorrhea, follow-up testing is not needed to prove eradication after treatment with any of the recommended or alternative regimens. However, if symptoms persist, the patient should be evaluated using N gonorrhoeae culture , and any gonococci isolated should be tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. Any person with pharyngeal gonorrhea who is treated with an alternative regimen should return 14 days after treatment for a follow-up with either culture or NAAT. If the NAAT is positive, a confirmatory culture is recommended before retreatment. If the culture is positive, antimicrobial susceptibility testing is recommended.
Routine follow-up testing after chlamydia or gonorrhea therapy can be performed using an NAAT approximately 3 months after treatment. If retesting at 3 months is not possible, clinicians should retest at the next opportunity within the 12-month period following initial treatment.
When Is The Right Time To Test For Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
Now is the best time to test for chlamydia and gonorrhea, especially if you are sexually active. Know yoursexual health status today.
If you had a recent sexual encounter with someone whose STD status you do not know, it is important that you gettested. Our clinicians recommend testing for chlamydia 1-5 days post-exposure and gonorrhea 2-6 days after your sexualencounter. Re-test two weeks after treatment to confirm that you are clear of chlamydia and gonorrhea, then again 3months later to make sure the infection did not re-appear. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are known as co-existinginfections, meaning that having one infection may put you at risk of having the other. Taking the chlamydia andgonorrhea test panel ensures that you test and get treatment for both infections.
Also if you have not been tested for other STDs like syphilis, HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis A, B and C or herpes 1 and 2in the last year, our clinicians recommend taking the all-inclusive 10 TestPanel to ensure that you are completely STD free.
For answers to your questions about testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea, call our Care Advisors at.
Medically Reviewed byJ. Frank Martin JR., MDonJune 18, 2019
Our Service Includes:
Don’t Miss: Ciprofloxacin For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
How Long Do Sti Test Results Take
STI test results can take between five and 10 days. If you have testing done at Planned Parenthood, well contact you ONLY if your results are positive. If this is the case, well give you a call to ask you to come back for follow up. Planned Parenthood does not contact patients if the results are negative. Patients can view negative results in the Patient Portal. If you want to confirm a negative result or want a copy for your records, please call the health center or stop by for a copy.
If the result is positive or inconclusive, we will call you to notify you of the results and ask you to make a follow up appointment to receive treatment or further services. The call also gives you a chance to ask questions.
Appendix: Key Questions Reviewed By The Work Group And Member Responsible For Literature Summary
Performance Characteristics
- Does the sensitivity and specificity of available tests for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae vary with respect to anatomic site from which the specimen was collected and/or specimen type?
- Joan Chow, DrPH, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California
- Katherine Whitaker, PhD, Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Maryland
Screening Applications
- What specimen types are optimal for of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae screening purposes?
- Charlotte Gaydos, DrPH, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
- Sarah Guerry, MD, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, California
- Barbara Van Der Pol, PhD, Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, Indiana
Economic Considerations
You May Like: Where Can I Buy Chlamydia Treatment Over The Counter
Question 1 Which Specimen Types Are Suitable For C Trachomatis And N Gonorrhoeae Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests
For women, a vaginal sample is recommended in the absence of a pelvic exam. For men, first-catch urine is the recommended specimen.
The following urogenital specimens are suitable:
- First-catch urine sample from a male or a female
- Endocervical, vaginal, SurePath, or ThinPrep® vial with PreservCyt® specimens from a female patient
- Male urethral swab
- Vaginal swab collected by a physician or the patient1-3
For nonurogenital specimens, see Question 2 below.
Limits Of Urine Tests For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
In 2018, 1.8 million cases of chlamydia were reported to the CDC in addition to 583,405 cases of gonorrhea. These numbers show an increment of 19% and 63% since 2014 for the two diseases respectively.
Most infections with gonorrhea and chlamydia are asymptomatic. The fact that many people have no symptoms means that the only way to detect and treat these infections is through screening.
In men, these diseases most commonly infect the urethra, and in women the cervix. However, it is possible to get both of these diseases in the throat, from oral sex. Anal sex can also lead to rectal chlamydia and rectal gonorrhea infections.
Neither rectal nor oral/throat infections will be detected by urine testing. It is therefore important to let your healthcare provider know if you have unprotected oral or anal sex. Testing should be done separately for those sites.
Currently, it is recommended that men who have sex with men undergo urine, throat, and anal screening once a year. Other people who regularly have unprotected oral or anal sex should consider a similar screening regimen. People who only engage in vaginal intercourse can get by with urine testing alone for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Recommended Reading: Doxycycline Vs Azithromycin For Chlamydia
This Test Will With > 99% Accuracy Tell You Whether Or Not You Have Been Infected With Chlamydia Or Gonorrhea
Like any Everlywell STI test, our at-home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Test is delivered in discreet packaging and taken in the privacy of your own home. Once you return your test sample to our lab and your sample is processed, youâll be notified via email when your results are ready. You will then be able to access your results through an easy-to-understand report on our secure online platform.
This at-home gonorrhea and chlamydia test checks whether you test positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia.
In the event that your test results are positive, a board-certified physician in your state will contact you at no additional cost to discuss your particular case, and when appropriate, prescribe medication.
We take customer privacy very seriously, and only you will have access to this information. As is the case with all STD testing – whether through Everlywell at-home tests or your healthcare provider â we may be required by law to report positive test results to certain state health departments. This is only done to track the prevalence of a sexually transmitted disease. In rare cases you may not receive a definitive result because of early infection or inadequate sampling and repeat testing is suggested. Donât take a chance on your sexual health. Know where you stand with our at-home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea test. You can also take our at-home STD Test for men or our STD Test for women.
How Does This At
This gonorrhea and chlamydia at-home test is a urine test â so a vaginal swab or blood sample is not required. To take the test, simply urinate in a collection cup and place your sample in the mail. Weâll send your sample to one of the labs we use for testing .
The lab will then use molecular testing technology that can identify the DNA of gonorrhea and chlamydia in your sample. This type of testing, known as nucleic acid amplification, is usually more accurate than other methods of gonorrhea and chlamydia testing .
You May Like: Where Can You Get Tested For Chlamydia
Question 2 Are Samples Other Than Urogenital Samples Such As Throat And Rectal Swabs Acceptable For C Trachomatis And N Gonorrhoeae Naats
Rectal and throat swabs are acceptable for C trachomatis and N gonorrhoeae NAAT testing. C trachomatis and N gonorrhoeae have been isolated from extra-genital sites in men who have sex with men and sexually active, heterosexuals who engage in unprotected oral or anal sex. The CDC currently recommends oral and anal testing of MSM who have had receptive oral or anal sex, respectively, within the previous year.4 Both C trachomatis and N gonorrhoeae testing are recommended on the anal specimens.
Most persons with C trachomatis detected at oropharyngeal sites do not have oropharyngeal symptoms. Although the clinical significance of oropharyngeal C trachomatis infection is unclear and routine oropharyngeal screening for CT is not recommended, available evidence suggests oropharyngeal C trachomatis can be sexually transmitted to genital sites therefore, per the 2015 guidelines on sexually transmitted diseases, oropharyngeal C trachomatis should be treated with appropriate antimicrobials.4
Quest Diagnostics offers throat- and anal -based testing:
- Test code 16506-Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Rectal
- Test code 70051-Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Throat
- Test code 16505-Chlamydia trachomatisRNA, TMA, Rectal
- Test code 70048-Chlamydia trachomatisRNA, TMA, Throat
- Test code 16504-Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Rectal
- Test code 70049-Neisseria gonorrhoeaeRNA, TMA, Throat
Does A Pap Smear Test For Stis
No. Pap smears, also known as pap tests or cervical smears, are cervical cancer screenings. Although many cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus , an STI, pap smears are not the same as an HPV test. Regular STI tests do not check for HPV either, and HPV testing often isnt needed until age 30.
Again, the only way to know for sure if you have an STI is to get tested for STIs.
Read Also: Can You Test For Chlamydia At Home