This depends on a number of factors:

A. Number of sexual partners – the more sexual partners you have the more frequent you should do STI testing.

B. Consistent condom use – If you regularly engage in condomless sexual activity or you inconsistently use condom, you should do STI testing more regularly

C. Change of new sexual partners – If you have recently have a change of sexual partner, you should do STI testing before commencing sexual activity with the new partner.

Most STI are curable with the appropriate treatment. HIV and Herpes infection is not curable but treatable.

STI can be broadly categorize into 2 main groups:

A. Blood STIs – HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Herpes, Syphilis

B. Urine STIs – Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, Mycoplasma, ureaplasma, Trichomonas

HPV infection is also a STI and it is generally transmitted by direct skin -to skin contact. You may want to consider the vaccine for HPV. For males, generally there is no need to do routine screening except in males who have sex with males.

For blood STIs , blood is needed for testing. For urine STIs, most of the time, a urine sample is required but in some cases due to sexual practices, swabs of the throat or anus may be required as advised by the doctor. If you are testing for urine STIs, please remember to hold your urine for at least 2 hours before the test as it may affect the accuracy of the result.

Generally for blood STIs, we recommend at least 4 weeks after the last sexual encounter to do testing as some of the blood STIs may take at least 4 weeks after infection before the test becomes positive.

For urine STIs, we recommend doing the test at least 2 weeks after the last sexual activity.

However if you are experiencing any symptoms suggestive of STIs , please consult the doctor as soon as possible for testing and treatment.