STI Testing Products

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STI Testing and Care

Choose from multiple types of manual, automated, or semi-automated in vitro diagnostic STI test kits and other STI testing products to identify the presence of or exposure to pathogens in a patient’s blood, urine, or vaginal fluids.

Vaginitis

Vaginitis is vaginal inflammation usually caused by an infection, a change in vaginal bacteria, reduced estrogen levels, and some skin disorders. The most common types of vaginitis are:

  • Bacterial vaginosis — an overgrowth of the normal vaginal flora
  • Yeast infections — usually caused by Candida albicans
  • Trichomoniasis — caused by a parasite and may be sexually transmitted

Test methods for vaginitis include:

  • Immunochromatography — most of these assays are designed to detect the presence of a specific enzyme (sialidase) that indicates the presence of bacteria, including Gardnerella vaginalis, Bacteroides spp., Prevotela, and Mobiluncus spp.
  • PCR-based — these methods may include DNA extraction and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to directly and qualitatively detect:
    • Chlamydia trachomatis
    • Neisseria gonorrhoeae
    • Trichomonas vaginalis
    • Candida species
    • Other bacterial vaginosis pathogens (not individually reported)

Featured STI Testing Products and STI Test Kits

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Human immunodeficiency virus testing includes methods for detecting antibodies to HIV-1/2 and free HIV-1 p24 antigen in blood samples.

Syphilis Testing

Rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and treponemal antibody in vitro diagnostic tests are designed to detect the presence of:

Herpes Simplex Virus

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) assays may be multiplex in vitro diagnostic tests to detect and differentiate nucleic acids from Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in cutaneous or mucocutaneous specimens. They may use HDA technology, a rapid method of nucleic acid amplification that does not require a thermal cycler.

Varicella-Zoster Virus

Direct fluorescent antibody detection is used for determining the presence of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in vesicle smears, biopsies, and other specimens. Some tests can also differentiate VZV from HSV or cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Emerging and Other STIs

Although infections with cytomegalovirus, Zika virus, and Mycoplasma genitalium are not new, there has been a recent focus on sexual and congenital infections with these and other pathogens.

  • Reports of birth defects in Central and South America from Zika virus transmission
  • Increase in consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection
  • Mycoplasma genitalium, previously relatively unknown, has become a substantial STI

Significance in Newborns

Some STIs can be passed to infants before or during birth.

  • Syphilis can cross the placenta and infect the baby in the womb
  • Gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis B, and genital herpes can infect the baby as it passes through the birth canal
  • HIV can infect the baby during pregnancy or during delivery