No STD testing anymore 3 monthly PrEP testing

[Guest]

I take PrEP event based. For this i have to visit the hospital every 3 months for STD and HIV testing.
During my last visit they told me they are not testing anymore for STD's and only for HIV. I was a bit suprised because i think it's important to test for STD's too because i once had an STD without symptoms for example...
Their explanation was that it is useless to threat an STD on a person while the other person is unthreated. The person who get the STD would then get antibiotics whie the other person is still able to spread it. Regarding to them this can make the antibiotics useless in the future.
I understand STD's can get stronger but i think it's still important to test them. So i'm confused now tbh...

The only test they do now is with urine and blood samples. (Belgium)

[rawfuckr]

They are doing this just to reduce costs. Oral and anal PCR swabs for gono/chlam are expensive. The rationale they gave you is nuts. The way to stop new infections is by testing and treating. 

[Iker80]

That all sounds weird to me. Just ignoring stuff doesn't make sense. I figure you either got it from a guy you won't see again, or it's from a partner and he'll hopefully get tested and treated if he needs it because you tell him about it. Either way, getting treated makes sense.

[Guest]

Go to a local  clinic and test for stds independent of your hiv test.  If you don’t know where one is, call your local gay resource agency. People say stupid things. People misunderstand things. That doesn’t mean that you have to suffer. Get tested. If you’re infected, take all the medicine as prescribed. End of story.   Good luck and  stay healthy. 

[hntnhole]

On 1/23/2024 at 4:09 PM, nokiax88 said:

Their explanation was that it is useless to threat an STD on a person while the other person is unthreated

That makes not one shred of sense to me. 

The whole idea behind practicing modern medicine (or ancient, for that matter) is to test and treat illnesses, and cure them when possible. 

The outfit I get the PrEP from sends me a "testing kit" every 3 months, with which I do all the stuff, and send it back.  However, given certain proclivities of mine, I get tested every month (outside of that supplier), because I go places and do things wherein I could easily pick up a bug (and occasionally do).  

The way I read the above quote is, the medical folks in your area simply assume that there is only one other person that could possibly be affected, which assumes far, far too much.  When there is no single "other person", but rather many others that one has no knowledge of, (other than whether they're a good fuck or not), assumes a far more authoritarian stance than is even close to appropriate.  Who do these supposedly caring, medically-trained folks think they are, I wonder.  

[viking8x6]

On 1/23/2024 at 4:09 PM, nokiax88 said:

During my last visit they told me they are not testing anymore for STD's and only for HIV. I was a bit suprised because i think it's important to test for STD's too because i once had an STD without symptoms for example...

Their explanation was that it is useless to threat an STD on a person while the other person is untreated. The person who get the STD would then get antibiotics whie the other person is still able to spread it. Regarding to them this can make the antibiotics useless in the future.

The only test they do now is with urine and blood samples. (Belgium)

In reverse order:

If they are testing urine samples, they are testing for STDs other than HIV (in the US, gonorrhea and chlamydia are routinely tested by urine samples).

Ignoring the fact that they are (apparently) testing for STD's, their explanation for why they are not makes no sense at all, unless we assume that the person with the STD is continuing (during and after the treatment) to have sex with the same person who gave them the STD (who still has it). Then it does make sense, because the person undergoing treatment would be continually exposed to the bacteria that cause the STD while the antibiotic was present in concentrations too low to kill it completely. But. They didn't ask you whether that was likely to be the case. And it completely overlooks the fact that the person who got tested and has the STD, if it isn't treated, could then be spreading it to others! Incompetent.

[badjujuboy]

Through my PrEP program by my provider, the requirement to begin was a complete panel of all STDs, including all the Heps, and an HIV test that were all negative. The only requirement is the every 90 day HIV test with STD testing offered at that time but optional. I’ve known several guys that have had some of the Hep screens come back equivocal or indeterminate and their PCPs added on the round of Hep AB vaccine. To put it plainly, it’s up to you to have STD testing done. You know your “proclivities” better than anyone else.

[BigChaserHere]

This is difficult to even imagine.  All people infected with any STI should certainly be treated and idealistically undergo a test for cure once the treatment has been completed. The epidemiology speaks for itself.  Rates of STI are certainly rising.  Full treatment is warraned irrespective of PrEP.

[UKFFBBBtm]

UK here and on PrEP, they do a full screening each time still every 3 months

[VersGuyAnon]

Have they said what they test the urine and blood for?

Can you request home test kits?