We Get It

How often you get tested depends on your sexual activity. If you’re sexually active, you should get tested for HIV and STIs every 12 months. If you’re having sex without a condom with multiple and/or anonymous partners, or with someone whose HIV status is unknown, you should get tested every 3-6 months.

Here’s what to expect:

The most common STIs that a person is tested for when they visit a clinic include gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and hepatitis (B and C). Testing for syphilis and hepatitis involves a blood test. A urine sample is often used to test for gonorrhea and chlamydia, but sometimes a throat or anal swab is used. It will usually take a week to get the results from your STI test. You will likely only hear back from the clinic if your test is positive.

Here’s what to expect:

An HIV test requires drawing blood to look for the presence of HIV antibodies. If the test discovers HIV antibodies in the blood then the person is HIV-positive. If the test does not discover antibodies, then the person is HIV-negative. It is important to know that when someone gets HIV, it can take a while to start producing antibodies. During this time (between 3 weeks to 3 months), a person’s HIV test may still turn up negative; this is often called the “window period”. It takes about a week to get the result from a regular lab HIV test, and a matter of minutes to get your result from a point-of-care or “rapid” test.