Frequently Asked Questions

You should consider screening if you have symptoms of a possible STD, if you have had a recent risky exposure (unprotected sex with a casual partner), or both.

Yes, you can. The common misconception is that oral sex is not considered ‘real’ sex and therfore has no risk but the opposite is true. Often oral sex is performed without protection and this is why infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea can pass on through oral sex.

Strictly speaking, no. But this is heavily dependent on how you define being a virgin. If there has been no sexual or intimate contact then it would be virtually impossible to contract an STD.

However, some only consider penetrative vaginal sex as a sign of losing virginity and therefore may engage in anal sex or oral sex and still consider themselves virgins. This, however, is still a risk for STDs as we know they can pass on through both anal and oral sex. Additionally STDs like Herpes (which affects the skin) can pass on through intimate skin to skin contact that does not actually require any form of penetrative sex.

Window periods vary from infection to infection but as a general rule of thumb if symptoms are present we can usually test at that time. If no symptoms are present then we can follow the list below:

• Urine and swab testing can be done approximately 5 to 7 days after an exposure.
• Blood testing for HIV can be performed 1 month after an exposure.
• Blood testing for all other conditions often requires up to 3 months from exposure to be fully accurate.

Yes. The absence of symptoms does not exclude an infection. Many may remain symptom free even while they are infectious. If you have no symptoms then routine screening can be performed and we recommend this to be every 3 to 6 months.

Unless you are in a purely monogamous relationship where you are both confirmed to be free from STDs then the absence of symptoms does not mean that they are not infectious. Many STDs have no symptoms but can still pass between partners.

Thankfully the majority can be cured but there are some such as Herpes and HIV that can be treated but not cured. This is why prevention is better than cure and ensuring safe sex goes a long way to reduce your risks.

The only sure ways to prevent STDs is abstaining from sex or both partners being in a purely monogamous relationship where they have confirmed on prior screening to be free from any STDs.
Otherwise the best we can do is to minimise the risk and the easiest options are to use protection with any casual partners and to be open with new partners about STDs and discuss the possibilities of any being present.

Unfortunately they are not 100% effective despite being the best, easily available option. Condoms are considered 95% effective after taking into account improper condom use or failure of the condom (breakage or falling off during sex). This is why we still recommend routine screening even if you regularly use condoms. Without condoms we normally recommend screening after any sexual contact.

In nearly all cases the answer is yes. Being treated for infections such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea only cures the infection at that time and it does not confer any immunity. This means if you have sex with someone who still has the infection it can pass back to you despite just completing any treatment.
Some STDs such as HIV are somewhat unique because once you have it then it stays with you for life. Technically even if you already have HIV then another positive partner can still pass more virus to you but most with HIV should be on long term medication which helps to prevent further spread anyway.

The answer is almost certainly no. There is no current evidence that STDs can pass on through this manner.