Sexual health is often overlooked or maybe not even considered due to unnecessary embarrassment, lack of information or fear of a positive result. Many people will not consider their sexual health to be an issue if they are not experiencing any obvious symptoms. However, your sexual health is just as important as any other aspect of your overall health.

Equipping yourself with knowledge about safe sex, symptoms & complications of STIs, in addition to how to go about getting tested for STIs and how to deal with the consequent results, will be invaluable in ensuring you remain healthy and free from infections.

Unfortunately, STIs are on the increase and it’s not always possible to know when you have a sexually transmitted infection as many do not show any symptoms.

Did you know?

• Nearly half a million people in the UK are diagnosed with an STI every year
• 70% of females and 50% of males with an STI show no symptoms
• Approximately 25% of sexually active people in the UK have genital herpes
• 1 in 14 people aged 16-24 have Chlamydia
• Gonorrhoea infections have increased by almost 25% since 2010
• 3000 new cases of Syphilis were diagnosed in 2011

Confidante tests for 10 common STIs all at once from a single sample:

• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhoea
• Treponema pallidum (Syphilis) *
• Herpes simplex I
• Herpes simplex II
• Trichomonas vaginalis
• Mycoplasma hominis
• Mycoplasma genitalium
• Ureaplasma urealyticum
• Chancroid

* Syphilis is most accurately detected using a swab from a blister or a sore. Not all Syphilis infections can be detected in a urine sample.