Gonorrhoea Archives - Randox Laboratories

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are passed from one person to another typically through unprotected sex or genital contact.¹Some of the most common STIs are Chlamydia, Genital Warts, Herpes, Gonorrhoea, HIV and Viral Hepatitis. Over one million STIs are acquired every day worldwide.²

Not all STIs cause noticeable symptoms. You could have an STI and not know. Therefore it is essential to get regular health checks. Some STIs, like chlamydia, can be asymptomatic – i.e. they display no symptoms but can cause long-term complications like infertility.³

STI symptoms in women

yellow or green vaginal discharge
smelly discharge (often fish-like)
bleeding between periods
bleeding after sex
pain during sex

STI symptoms in men

discharge from penis tip
irritation of the urethra
swollen testicles

STI symptoms in both genders

pain when urinating
itching, burning or tingling around the genitals
blisters, sores, lumps or a rash around genitals or anus

Confidante At-Home STI Testing Kit

If you have recently entered a new relationship, experienced unprotected sex or are planning a family you should get tested for STIs, and may want to avail of our 10-plex STI test.

We offer a home testing sexually transmitted infection kit called ‘Confidante’ which enables you to be tested for 10 of the most common STIs. Confidante is designed to ensure a simple, hassle-free process where you will receive your results in 7 working days of posting your sample via email or telephone.

The process is straightforward and so simple: Buy Online / Register Kit Online / Collect Sample / Post / Receive Results.

For healthcare professionals, we also offer a Multiplex Sexually Transmitted Infection Array allowing you to outsource samples for STI testing. The CE-marked STI Array provides excellent precision, specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for STI diagnoses, which reduces the risk of false reporting and unnecessary confirmatory tests. Our simultaneous multiplex testing means smaller sample volumes are required, enabling faster throughput and rapid patient diagnosis saving you time and money.

STI Multiplex Array detects the following;

Chlamydia Trachomatis
Neisseria Gonorrhoea
Herpes Simplex 1
Herpes Simplex 2
Treponema Pallidum
Mycoplasma Hominis
Ureaplasma Urealticum
Mycoplasma Genitalium
Haemophilius Ducreyi
Trichomonas Vaginalis

Randox Clinical Laboratory Services

Tests for each of the STIs detailed above are run in Randox Clinical Laboratory Services (RCLS) in Antrim, Northern Ireland. RCLS is built upon Randox’s 35 years of experience and provides a clinical laboratory service designed to meet the time-sensitive, bespoke requirements of clinical and research projects globally.

RCLS have 4 UKAS ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratories No. 9329 – with unrivalled facilities across the UK. They are situated in Liverpool, London, Holywood and Randox Science Park Antrim. Within each of the locations there are a team of experienced scientists to support your project while you save money, time and labour.

There are a variety of analyser platforms available across the RCLS laboratories including the RX series of clinical chemistry analysers, along with our Evidence Series of multiplex immunoassay/molecular diagnostic systems, which utilise our intelligent Biochip Array Technology. Each site also offers alternative third-party analysers.

To find out more information about Confidante sexual health testing, or RCLS, visit: https://www.confidantetest.com/ or email info@rcls.com. To find out more information about our STI Array visit: https://www.randox.com/sti-array/ or email info@rcls.com

National STIQ Day

National STIQ day was introduced in 2010 and every year since then the 14^th of January has been dedicated to raising awareness for STIQ. The purpose is to emphasize the importance of sexual health and to encourage everyone to get regular health checks.

Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) are infections passed from one person to another through unprotected vaginal, oral, or anal sex, or genital contact.

Lack of symptoms

More and more people in the UK are catching STIs and each year the infection rate is rising. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1 million STIs are acquired every day and the majority of these STIs have no symptoms.¹ Therefore you could have an STI and not be aware. 70% of women and 50% of men show no symptoms after contracting Chlamydia which is the most common STI condition in the UK.²

Even though the majority of the time symptoms of STIs aren’t visible, there can be signs of having an STI, including unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or anus, pain when peeing, lumps or skin growth around the genitals, a rash, unusual bleeding, itchiness or blisters around the genitals.³

What to do when you catch an STI

Anyone can catch an STI regardless of what age you are, your sexuality or how many sexual partners you have, as it only takes one sexual encounter to put you at the risk of catching an STI. A shocking fact from Public Health England shows that a case of chlamydia or gonorrhea is diagnosed in a young person every 4 minutes in England, and over 144,000 diagnoses of these sexually transmitted infections are seen in people aged 15 to 24 in 2017. ⁴

It is extremely important to get routinely tested. The earlier the diagnosis is made and treated the less chance of having long-term effects including infertility.

Randox Biosciences 10-plex STI test

Randox Biosciences would like to take the opportunity to support STIQ day by offering our CE marked 10-plex STI test, a cost-effective solution for accurate STI testing. This test detects the following 10 infections simultaneously from a single patient urine sample.

Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG)
Mycoplasma genitalium (MG)
Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU)
Chlamydia trachomatis (CT)
Trichomonas vaginalis (TV)
Haemophilus ducreyi (HD)
Mycoplasma hominis (MH)
Treponema pallidum (TP)
Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1)
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2)

Does your laboratory or clinic carry out STI testing? Our molecular analyser, the Bosch Vivalytic, powered by our award winning Biochip Array Technology, could be the diagnostic solution.

For more information about our STI Arrays or Vivalytic email: info@randoxbiosciences.com

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sexually-transmitted-infections-(stis)
http://www.national-awareness-days.com/stiq-day/
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/an-sti-is-diagnosed-in-a-young-person-every-4-minutes-in-england
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sexually-transmitted-infections-stis/

Testing for STIs with Confidante At Home Testing Kit