Private Sexual Health Screen
Our sexual health screen is a fast, efficient and confidential way of making sure you don’t have any sexually transmitted diseases. Our service screens for HIV, Syphilis, Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia. We use a mixture of blood tests and urine samples.
HIV blood test
Human Immunodeficiency virus is a viral infection that damages the cells of your immune system, rendering it unable to fight other common infections. While currently there is no cure for HIV, there are some good and effective drugs to help infected individuals maintain healthy and long-lived life.
Who should get tested?
If you think that you have such symptoms, or the person you had such exposure to had been diagnosed with HIV or has symptoms of HIV, you should get tested. This is a single blood test.
What are the symptoms?
- Initially flu-like symptoms lasting a week or two and disappear after that. The infected person can live several years without any symptoms
- The virus slowly damages the immune system, and even if you don’t have any symptoms, you are still infectious. One can get infected by having sex with an infected person, or by sharing needles, or human bodily fluids with an infected person (blood transfusions, wound to wound contact)
Syphilis blood test
Syphilis is a bacterial infection spread usually by having sex with an someone who is infected. The disease has several stages and if left untreated can spread to other organs and cause serious complications. Symptoms of the infection can be mild or difficult to spot and can come and go.
What are the symptoms?
- Small, painless ulcer on the head of the penis, vagina or anus, lips or fingers
- Swollen glands in the neck, armpits or groin
- Later stage infection gives a blotchy red rash or wart-like skin growths on or around the vulva or anus, flu like symptoms, white patches in the mouth
These symptoms may last a few weeks and also disappear and come back in later stage. If left untreated they can lead to serious health complications.
Who should get tested?
If you or your sexual partner have these symptoms, or if the person you had sex with had been diagnosed with syphilis, you should get tested without delay. This is a single blood test.
Chlamydia test
Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK. You can get infected if you have unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex with somebody with chlamydia, even when there is no penetration or ejaculation, and by sharing sex toys that aren’t washed. It is a bacterial infection and it can cause a serious, permanent damage to the reproductive system, making it difficult to get pregnant.
Who should get tested?
If you think you had unprotected sex with someone who is infected with chlamydia you should get tested immediately. Sometimes, symptoms don’t show even after several weeks from having sex, but it can still damage your reproductive system. The test is a urine sample.
What are the symptoms?
Most people do not realise they are infected, as it may not show any symptoms. If you do develop symptoms, it may be:
- Pain or burning sensation when peeing
- Unusual discharge from penis, vagina or rectum
- In women, abdominal pain, bleeding after sex or in between periods
- In men, pain and swelling in one or both testicles
- Rectal pain, bleeding or discharge
Gonorrhoea test
Gonorrhoea after chlamydia, second most common bacterial STI in the UK, affecting mainly young men and women under the age of 25. The infection spreads through vaginal, anal or oral sex, sex toys or by an infected mother to the baby via the womb. It is a serious infection if not treated early, and the bacteria are becoming world-wide resistant to the common antibiotics.
What are the symptoms?
You might not have any obvious symptoms, or any of the following if you are:
a woman:
- Pain or burning sensation when peeing
- Smelly discharge from vagina, that can be green, yellow, watery and thin
- And less common, abdominal pain or bleeding after sex or in between periods
a man:
- Pain or burning sensation when peeing
- Unusual discharge from penis, that can be white, green or yellow
- Swelling of the foreskin and/or testicles
Both sexes can get an infection in the rectum, eyes or throat, which manifests with discomfort, itchiness, pain, irritation of the area.
Who should get tested?
If you have these symptoms, or suspect your sexual partner is infected, get tested without delay, as the infection can cause serious complications, like pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility or miscarriage. The test is urine sample.