Urine test

In the bad old days, men, as trøde, they may have Chlamydia or gonorrhea were tested by having a swab is inserted in their urethra, and women had to undergo a pelvic cavities exam. Fortunately, thanks to technology, both of these can now be detected through urine Std test. Gonorrhea and Chlamydia urine samples is a heck of a lot more pleasant than urethral swabs, although some places urine test may be difficult to find.

Gold standard for diagnosing bacterial Stds such as Chlamydia and gonorrhea, is still direct testing of specimens from the cervix or urethra using bacterial culture, which is trying to grow all bacteria that may be present in the sample. Most urinary test work by looking for the bacterial DNA by using a process called however, LCR (ligase chain reaction) or other DNA amplification techniques. These types of tests are sensitive to even very small quantities of bacterial DNA and does not require a live bacterial sample.

The debate on whether urine testing is just as effective in the case of detection of Chlamydia and gonorrhea is testing of cervical and urethral swabs often focuses on women, since female infection (the cervix) most common site is not on the pathway, urine travels out of the body. Concerns about urine test effectiveness, however, appear to be fairly unjustified.

Science suggests that even though the urinary test cannot pick up quite as many cases as swab testing, it will still identify most infected persons. There is great news for people who want to be tested for gonorrhea and Chlamydia-the two most common curable Std in a less invasive way, although some other STD test still requires either physical examination or draw blood.

A 2005 study investigated 29 studies of urinary test relative efficiency compared to swab testing using three different amplification techniques (PCR, transcription-mediated amplification and strand-displacement amplification) found that:

Testing For Chlamydia trachomatis in women, was the sensitivity and specificity for 80-90 percent and 98-99 percent urine tests and 85-98% and 98-99% of cervical samples.
Testing For Chlamydia in men, were the sensitivity and specificity 84-93 percent and 93-99 percent to urine tests and 87-95 percent and 96-99% urethral samples.
Testing For gonorrhea in women, was the sensitivity and specificity for the 55-91% and 98-99 percent urine samples and 94-99 percent and 99 percent of cervical samples.
Testing For gonorrhea in men, were the sensitivity and specificity of 90 percent and 99 percent urine samples and 96 percent and 99 percent urethral samples.

In summary, although the cervical and urethral test was somewhat more effective than urine testing for Chlamydia and gonorrhea, Chlamydia and gonorrhea was urine test more than good enough in most cases.

Source:

Cook, R.L. et al. (2005) "systematic Review: Noninvasive Testing for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae" Ann Intern Med. 142: 914-925.

Readers respond: Where you go to STD testing and treatment?Other gonorrhea and Chlamydia question

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