02/28/2026
STI testing companies — help me understand.
A urine only gonorrhea and chlamydia test misses most infections. The data is clear: in multisite screening studies, a**l and oral infections are detected more often than ge***al alone.
Consumers don’t know this.
You do.
Yet many of you still offer a “budget” option that skips oral and a**l screening.
Why?
If someone can “afford” the test, but it doesn’t actually screen the sites where infections are most commonly found, how is that helping them?
You may believe it’s better than nothing. I simply disagree.
To me, it’s like offering a discounted home inspection that just drives past the house and hands you a certificate.
Technically something was done, and it was cheap.
But was it thorough? Effective?
If someone had $50, I would not sell them a $50 urine only STI test.
Not because I don’t value access.
But because the multisite data consistently shows that oral and a**l infections are common and missed with ge***al only screening.
So how does it serve someone to take their last $50 and leave them thinking they were fully screened when they weren’t?
That’s the part I struggle with.
