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, anal and oral infections are detected more often than genital alone.
Consumers don’t know this.
You do.
Yet many of you still offer a “budget” option that skips oral and anal 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 anal infections are common and missed with genital 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.
