The most important thing to know about STIs: get tested every three to six months. If you’re giving oral sex or having anal sex, make sure to take a throat and anal swab. Peeing in a cup can often test for genital STIs, but depending on your body and local medical guidelines, you may use a urethral swab (if you have a penis) or a vaginal swab (if you have a vagina/front hole). Finally, some STIs can only be detected in your blood so make sure to get a blood test to complete your screening.

Many STIs don’t cause symptoms. However, if you have burning or discharge from your penis, vagina/front hole, throat or ass; discomfort when you pee; a rash and/or ulcer in your mouth or on your genitals, don’t wait: go get that test! Most STIs can be cured, and getting early treatment is the best way to have a good health outcome. For example, having another STI can make HIV transmission more likely. Condoms are an effective way to prevent STIs and some STIs can now be prevented with medications using a strategy called DoxyPEP [Link to DoxyPEP section].

You can read more about STIs from the World Health Organization or Building Healthy Online Communities.

Here’s the good news: most STIs can be treated, and many are curable. Get tested and treated as soon as you can so you can prevent passing on the STI to others and having serious health problems.

Having untreated STIs can cause long-term health issues and increase your chance of getting HIV if you’re HIV-negative and exposed. They’re so easily detected, and most of them are so easily treatable, that it’s well worth getting tested to find out if you need treatment, and to make sure you don’t pass one on inadvertently to someone else.

Make sure to follow your healthcare provider’s advice on when you can start having sex again. For curable STIs, they may ask you to wait a certain amount of time after treatment or to re-test to be sure the treatment was effective and you no longer have an STI. For non-curable STIs, staying on treatment and keeping an eye out for symptoms is an important part of caring for yourself and your partners.

You can read more about STIs from the World Health Organization or Building Healthy Online Communities.

There are vaccines that can help keep you healthy and prevent some STIs and other infections you may get when in close contact with sex partners. While vaccine recommendations differ from country to country,  examples you may want to talk with a healthcare provider about include Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, and mpox. You may also be able to get vaccinations for conditions that aren’t always sexually transmitted but will still keep you and your community safe like COVID and meningitis.

There’s a period of time after a person is infected during which they won’t test positive for an STI. In other words, there’s a period of time when a person who has an STI won’t know it yet. This is called the “window period.” The window period varies, depending on the person’s body, the type of infection, and on the test that’s used.

During that time, a person can test negative even though they do have an infection, and they can still transmit the STI to another person. That’s one of the reasons frequent testing is so important.

You can read more about STIs from the World Health Organization or Building Healthy Online Communities.

Other than HIV, sexually transmitted infections include syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, shigella, herpes, crabs and scabies, HPV, bacterial meningitis, and mycoplasma genitalium. Risks, symptoms, and window periods are different for each.

Mpox and COVID can also pass between people in close contact during sex or at large gatherings, like at bars, clubs, bathhouses, or sex parties.

Finally, there may be infections that are related to your genitals but aren’t often described as STIs. These may be illnesses like urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginosis, or fungal infections.

You can read more about STIs from the World Health Organization or Building Healthy Online Communities.

A self-test is a test you can take at home or in a private space on your own time. There are self-tests for many different health concerns, including STIs, HIV, pregnancy, and COVID. Self-tests in this section refer specifically to STIs other than HIV, but you can also read about self-testing for HIV.

STI self-tests include anal and oral swabs, a urine sample or genital swab, and sometimes a blood test using a fingerstick (not blood from a vein). You take the tests on your own, meaning you swab your own ass and throat, take a urine sample or use a genital swab, and prick your finger to put a little bit of blood on a card or in a small tube. Then you send the samples to a lab in the mail and get results later.

Self-testing for STIs may not be available in your country yet.

You can read more about self-testing from the World Health Organization.

One of the most important things you can do if you get diagnosed with an STI is to tell your partners. That way, they can get tested too. Below are suggestions on which partners you need to tell based on when you saw them last and what STI you test positive for.

  • 30 days before symptoms or diagnosis: mpox, scabies
  • 90 days before symptoms or diagnosis: chlamydia & gonorrhea
  • 12 months before symptoms or diagnosis: HIV, syphilis, herpes, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C

Depending on how well you know the person, it may not be a big deal to tell them that you may have unintentionally exposed them to an STI. In other situations, it can be difficult. You might feel awkward, scared, and worried about your partner’s reaction. Your local health department can also help, and will protect your anonymity too.

For tips on how to tell them yourself, here are some suggestions:

  • “Meeting up was really hot. Here’s the thing: just got tested and my doctor told me I have gonorrhea. Wanted you to know so you can get checked. Let me know how your test goes.”
  • “Hey, turns out I have COVID. I think we might have hooked up while I was positive so you might need to get a test and isolate. Let me know if there’s anything I can share to help. Thanks for understanding.”

However you decide to tell someone you’ve tested positive is up to you. But doing so allows them to take care of their health, too.

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