A New Sexual Health Frontier: At-Home Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Testing

Home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Testing The need for home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea testing has been felt by most women for a long time, primarily because it saves them the trouble of going to a clinic for sample collection and the embarrassment connected with it. Medical technology has provided us with home-testing equipment such as glucose-level testing kit, blood pressure measuring apparatus, and pregnancy testing kits. However, a home testing kit that would enable women to collect their own samples at home and send them to labs for evaluation of the two most common sexually transmitted infections -- Chlamydia & Gonorrhea -- has still not been developed, as per the findings of a recent study

How sexually transmitted infections (STIs) often lack symptoms

According to medial microbiology professor Cynthia Schauer, gonorrhea (caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoea) has a very high prevalence in the US, with 125 infected per 100,000. But this statistic masks an even bleaker story. The incidence of gonorrhea among those age 15 – 19 is 634 per 100,000 (almost 6 times the rate of the general population!) In 20 – 25-year-olds, the incidence is slightly lower, at 460 infected per 100,000.

How sexually transmitted infections (STIs) often lack symptoms

Medications and vaccines are available to treat and prevent some STIs. Still these diseases are on the rise. Many cause no symptoms; spread by those unaware of infection.

Sexually transmitted diseases, (STDs) are infectious diseases, caused by microbes (mainly bacteria, viruses and protozoans), that are passed from one person to another during sexual activity, including vaginal, anal or oral sex.

Philadelphia Reports Jump In Gonorrhea Cases After Several Years Of Decline

Reported cases of gonorrhea in Philadelphia increased 26% in the first half of 2010, compared with the same period last year, according to a city Department of Public Health advisory released on Monday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Philly health unit says gonorrhea on the rise

Reported cases of gonorrhea rose 26 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period last year, the city Department of Public Health said.

It is possible that the higher numbers reflect more testing, the city said in an advisory sent Monday to health-care providers. Still, after several years of modest declines through 2009, the increase - to 2,876 cases in the first half of this year - is a public health concern, Caroline C. Johnson, director of the department's Division of Disease Control, said Tuesday.