How Often Should I Test for Sexually Transmitted Infections?

Despite ongoing education and awareness efforts, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are still circulating through the American population in alarming numbers. In 2024 alone, about 2.2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported.

While most everyone should have STIs on their radar screen, it’s especially important for women, whose reproductive health can be affected more substantially by STIs and their complications than men.

Given that women fare worse with STIs, Dr. Jose F. De Leon and the team at Kinwest OBGYN, are devoting this month’s blog to the topic of STI testing. Why it’s important for women and how often women should test for which diseases. Let’s take a look.

(Please note that STI is the same reference as STD — sexually transmitted disease. We use the term STI more often now because these infections don’t always lead to symptoms, or disease, but you can still pass them around as an active infection.)

Why women should prioritize STI testing

The leading reason why women should test more often and regularly for STIs is that the infections can affect fertility. If you have an STI that goes untreated, it can evolve into pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which is a leading cause of infertility in women.

To give you an idea about how common this is, about 10%-15% of women with untreated chlamydia go on to develop PID.

Another reason why it’s more important for women to test regularly for STIs is because you don’t want to have an active infection during pregnancy because you can pass certain STIs along to the fetus or to the child during birth, such as:

HIV
Syphilis
Gonorrhea
Chlamydia
Herpes
Hepatitis B and C
Trichomoniasis

Outside of fertility issues, women should undergo regular testing for the same reason as men: to prevent passing the infection on to others.

STI testing recommendations for women

Now let’s look at some good rules of thumb when it comes to screening for STIs in women, which include:

Testing at least once for HIV
Testing regularly for syphilis
Testing for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C during pregnancy
Sexually active women under age 25 should test annually for chlamydia and gonorrhea
Sexually active women 25 and older should test annually for chlamydia and gonorrhea if they have multiple partners, a new partner, or a partner with an STI

Many of these recommendations depend upon your lifestyle and sexual activity, so it’s important to assess your sex life honestly. At Kinwest OBGYN, we offer a judgment-free zone — our sole priority is your health.

What’s involved in STI testing

The good news when it comes to screening for STIs is that the tests we run are quick and easy. In most cases, we only need a blood sample, vaginal swab, or urine sample to perform most of these important screenings.

As a matter of course, we can do this testing during your regular well women exams (unless you’re experiencing symptoms) and you can count on us to keep track of our overall screening efforts to make sure we’ve got your bases covered.

If you have more questions about STI testing or you’d like to schedule this important screening, contact Kinwest OBGYN in Dallas, and Irving, Texas, today.