Health News and Information

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES: WHAT A FULL STD SCREEN INCLUDES

Unless you talk honestly about your sexual health, your health care provider may not be aware that you need or want to be screened for STDs. Some health care providers don’t routinely screen their patients for STDs unless they think the patient is at high risk. Don’t assume that your health care provider has performed an STD screening just by looking at the genital area or by doing a Pap smear. The physical examination is just one of the steps in the screen. Specific tests must be done to screen for most STDs.

A full STD screen includes evaluation for the following (the diseases are listed in alphabetical order, not in order from most common to least common or vice versa):

1. Bacterial vaginosis, for women (not an STD)

2. Chancroid, donovanosis, and lymphogranuloma venereum. (These are not routinely screened for in most areas of the country because they are very rare. You may be screened if you are at risk, or if you show symptoms of these STDs on examination. See the descriptions of specific STDs in Part II to determine if you are at risk.)

3. Chlamydia

4. Genital warts, and a Pap smear for women if one has not been performed in the past year

5. Gonorrhea

6. Hepatitis B and possibly A or C

7. Herpes

8. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

9. Intestinal infections for recipients of anal sex or those who practice oral-anal sex

10. Lice and scabies

11. Molluscum contagiosum

12. Mucopurulent cervicitis (for women)

13. Nongonococcal urethritis (for men)

14. Syphilis