Check Yourself

By OLIVIA WOOD

At the start of semester 1, this gal found herself recently single and not quite sure what to do next. A friend suggested that I first get an STI check, 'just to check, you know'. This got me thinking and suddenly I had A LOT of questions, and so started my semester long search for the answers around sexual health, when & where I could get STI checks, and of course - why! Here’s what I found (and be prepared, I’m a nursing student, so this is technical):

What is an STI?

STI stands for sexually transmissible infection, and they are infections that can be passed from one person to another during unprotected sex or just from intimate genital contact. This includes insertion of fingers, sex-toys and any other objects, that might be contaminated, into the vagina, mouth or anus.

It’s also possible to transmit viruses such as warts and cold sores (herpes) just from skin-to-skin contact, like kissing!

I found out that STIs are caused by microscopic bacteria or parasites, but that sometimes STIs don’t always cause visible symptoms!

What puts you at risk of an STI?

“Unprotected” vaginal or anal sex seemed to be the common answer to this question. Unprotected sex seems to be the common term used when sexual partners don’t use barrier protection such as male or female condoms for penetrative sex, or a male condom or dental dam for oral sex.

Some other factors that increase your risk of acquiring an infection are thing such as: Having sex with casual partners...the more partners = a greater risk. Having sex with someone who has had unprotected sex with other casual partners…who know what they are carrying? When you are having sex while travelling outside of Australia. Ditto if your partner has had unprotected sex while travelling outside Australia. Having sex with a partner who has injected drugs (IV drug use, the reuse of needles, or use of unclean needles can cause transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C amongst other things). There’s also increased risk for men who have unprotected sex with other men.

When should I get tested?

QUT Medical Centre recommend students are tested at the end of a sexual relationship, before starting a new sexual relationship, after any unsafe sexual contact or if you think you may have an STI.

Where can I get tested?

I got in touch with various organisations here in Brisbane. Here is a list of organisations which offer free (bulkbilled) STI testing to university students: • QUT Medical Centre (QUT GP & KG

Campuses) • PASH (Princess Alexandra Hospital) • RAPID (Fortitude Valley) • True Relationships (Windsor) • Brisbane Sexual Health Clinic (BNE

CBD) • Metro North Sexual Health and HIV

Service (Roma St – BNE CBD, &

Kippa Ring – Redcliffe) • The Marie Stopes Clinic at

Woolloongabba

What’s a typical appointment going to be like?

The appointment will generally go for about 30 minutes. During this time, you will be asked questions about your sexual activity and health. You may also need to provide a self-collected urine sample and a professionally-collected blood sample for testing. Depending on whether you have any symptoms the clinician may ask to take some swabs of any genital sores. They may also want to do a cervical screen test for women, or a prostate exam for men as this time.

Some things to ponder:

Don’t count on a partner to offer you the information you need. If you are thinking about having unprotected sex, make sure you first ask your partner: • Have they had an STI before? • When was the last time they were tested for STIs? • What were they tested for?

Have they had sex with anyone since they were last tested?

It can be a little embarrassing, but make sure you do ask these questions, and if you get asked, be honest! They have a right to know if there is a risk of getting an STI and to decide whether or not they are okay to have unprotected sex.

What else is out there?

In 2017, a collaboration between 13 HEALTH, Pathology Qld & Communicable Diseases Branch launched a pilot project which offers at home, free gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing. 16+ participants can order a home mailing kit, pee on a stick and send it back in the mail. While this is not the same visiting a clinic for a comprehensive check, I found it super simple, I got my results texted back to me in less than a week, and I got a follow up call to make sure that I didn’t have any symptoms.

So there’s a quick snapshot of some of the things I have learnt. Want to know more? Got questions? Then make sure you visit the websites for the clinics listed above, call 13 432 584 (13 HEALTH) or get in contact with us at genderandsexuality@qutguild.com