Have you and your partner been tested? A lot of us think that STIs don’t apply to us and never will. We’re “too clean”, “haven’t had enough sexual partners”, or “aren’t ‘sleazy’ enough”. When in fact, the most hygienic, and ‘un-sleazy’ person can become infected with an STI after partaking in a single sexual act – even if it’s their first!

Sexual health is crucially important and something that we should all keep on top of, but never is your sexual health more imperative than when the time comes to start a family and you are no longer the only one at risk. Many STIs can pose a serious threat to your baby’s health during development, delivery, and even after birth. Taking this into consideration, plus the fact that many STIs are symptom-free, it’s time to #TakeTheTest if you’re planning on starting a family.

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is one of the better known STIs, yet many people don’t understand the risks it presents during pregnancy. New-borns who are exposed to chlamydia are at risk of serious eye infections and pneumonia. Even more worryingly, the possibility of a miscarriage and premature delivery is increased significantly.

Gonorrhoea

A very common STI, gonorrhoea symptoms, can cause vaginal discharge, burning while passing urine, and abdominal pain if present during pregnancy. Similar to the risks associated with chlamydia, the chance of a mother miscarrying or having a preterm delivery is higher with an untreated gonorrhoea infection present. What’s more, an active infection during child birth can result in the baby developing blindness, joint infection, or a life threatening blood infection.

Syphilis

Syphilis is harder to identify than other STIs, diagnosed most effectively using a swab from a sore or blister instead of a urine sample, and is easily passed from a mother to her unborn child. Infants can be premature and victim to a serious infection that can be fatal. If those risks weren’t bone-chilling enough – new-borns that survive syphilis often develop problems in various organs including their brain, heart, and eyes.

Herpes

Herpes infections differ in that they are relatively risk free until labour. Contact between mother and baby during delivery however can pass the incurable STI onto the new-born. As a result, many women infected with herpes have a caesarean section to prevent the risk of transmission.

The Randox Confidante home STI test kit allows you and your partner to safeguard your unborn baby from the comfort of your own home; testing simultaneously for 10 STIs, including both the above common infections and those that are less well known. When your STI test kit arrives, collect a urine/swab sample, post your samples back using the pre-paid envelopes provided, and receive your confidential results within 7 days.

Source: http://www.webmd.com

If your worreid abourt your seual health or your partner is, get confidante so you’ll know that your safe because been tested, don’t let the question have you and your partner been tested hang over you!

MSM: STI rates among men who have sex with men continue to increase across the UK despite campaigns by health authorities to tackle the increase. The latest available figures show that in England during 2012 there were 36,000 new diagnoses of STIs in MSM, including more than 10,000 cases of gonorrhoea. Worryingly, one of the UK’s leading GUM clinicians; Dr Wallace Dinsmore says this is just the tip of the iceberg: “We have evidence to suggest that the 850,000 MSM in the UK are at greater risk of infection than other groups. Not only is gonorrhoea increasing among MSM, syphilis is also a significant problem and these statistics which are from two years ago, do not represent the true scale of the problem we face today.”

The rise in STIs among men who have sex with men was described as at ‘crisis levels’ ahead of a specially convened meeting of UK sexual health experts in London. During the Valentine’s Day conference, which was organised by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV(BASSH), medics discussed the paradox that; increased infection rates of STIs could be because of the increasingly successful treatments available for HIV, as Dr Martin Crockard from Confidante explains: “The progress in HIV drugs has been nothing short of dramatic, but unfortunately more men are having unprotected sex because they feel they don’t have to shield themselves from the virus – other STIs are then spread. Testing is the key to detection and ultimately to prevention and is especially important because STIs like gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia are predominately asymptomatic. This is indeed becoming a public health crisis.”

The ‘crisis’ goes hand-in-hand with the low uptake of sexual health testing by men who have sex with men. According to a recent survey by BASSH, more than a quarter of gay and bisexual men have never been tested. A spokesman for the association says that following last month’s meeting its experts are working on a recommendation paper in order to encourage more men to get tested: “MSM who do not present for STI testing are significantly more likely to be unaware that they have an infection, and therefore represent a much greater risk of onward transmission – a clear public health concern.” MSM seeking STI testing can now do so in the privacy of their own home, with the new Confidante Home STI Testing Kit – the available over the counter product to detect 10 of the most common STIs, from just one sample