If you are sexually active, it is smart to test for venereal diseases. But how often should you do this? It depends on your lifestyle, sexual preference and relationship status.

You might consider testing once a year if you:

• Being sexually active
• Have a monogamous relationship
• Never contracted an STI before
• Doing safe sex

In some cases, more frequent testing is recommended. We recommend testing every 3 to 6 months if you have a higher risk of contracting an STI:

• Many alternating sex partners (more than 3 in the last 6 months)
• Swingers
• MSM
• Paid sex (you are a sex worker or you have had sex with a sex worker)
• You or your sex partner is from a country where STIs are more common (especially Asia, Africa, South and Central America, Eastern Europe and Russia)
• Your sex partner falls into one of the above groups

In addition, there are situations where we advise you to test as soon as possible; this is outside the scope of periodic checks:

• Warning by your sex partner
• Complaints consistent with STDs:
• Pain or burning when urinating, discharge from the penis or anus, discharge from the vagina that has a different color, smell or amount than you normally have
• Warts, vesicles or sores around the genitals
• Niet lekker zijn, koorts, (hevige) griep en/of huiduitslag die 1 tot 6 weken ontstaan na een mogelijke hiv besmetting
• If you had sex against your will
• Extra-marital relationships

Houd wel rekening met de windowfase; de testen zijn pas na een bepaalde periode betrouwbaar  na de onveilige seks. Voor chlamydia en gonorroe is dit na 14 dagen, voor mycoplasma en trichomonas na 21 dagen en voor hiv, hepatitis B en C en syfilis is de test pas na 3 maanden betrouwbaar. Als je klachten hebt, kun je natuurlijk meteen testen om zo snel mogelijk behandeld te worden. Als je testen toch negatief terugkomen, is het belangrijk om na de windowfase de soa-testen te herhalen om zeker te weten dat je niet besmet bent. Vrij in de tussentijd veilig totdat je negatief getest bent, om eventuele besmettingen te voorkomen!

Finally, there are some situations where you should also think about STI testing:

• If you are starting a new relationship and you want to have unprotected sex. For gonorrhea and chlamydia, wait 14 days and for a blood test 6-12 weeks before you can test reliably. After this, you basically don't need to test if you are monogamous.
• If you are pregnant, it is advisable to test early in pregnancy to avoid infecting the baby.
• When you inject drugs and share needles with someone else.

Still unsure about when and how often to test? Feel free to contact us for advice or make an appointment here. You can test at the following locations:

Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Nijmegen and Eindhoven.

You can even get a rapid test done where you will have a result after only 90 minutes.

Sources: STI AIDS Netherlands, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention