[Question #8973] Testing window
37 months ago
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Thank you for a great service!
I seem to read from your answers that the testing window for chlamydia is 4-5 days after incident. I was therefore a little surprised when I read two weeks in an information folder locally (Scandinavia). I also found this source indicating 5 days - 2 weeks: https://www.ndhealth.gov/hiv/Docs/CTR/TimePeriodsReference_HIVSTDsHep.pdf
I tok a test 7 days arter an incident (negative). Can you confirm that you regard this as conclusive?
Could you also ellaborate why this official information differs eventually? Is it the typical conservative approach or what? Or is any difference between gender or urine vs swab? I am a male and my test was on urine (first part).
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
37 months ago
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Welcome to our forum. Thanks for your question. You can be comfortable that your results are conclusive and that you do not need repeat testing. Unfortunately, governmental and public health organizations tend to be conservative in their recommendations regarding things such as testing windows and when results become conclusive. The reason for this is that such organizations feel that they cannot “afford” to be incorrect, ever.
Tests for STD pathogens depend on having sufficient numbers of bacteria present for the test to accurately detect the infection without providing large numbers of falsely positive results. All tests have a so-called “limit of detection” as part of their performance characteristics although this information is not widely available, nor does it need to be. Before the advent and widespread availability of nucleic acid amplification tests such as PCR the limits of detection for STI diagnosis tend to be higher and required a number of bacterial life cycles for the organisms present to reach a point where they could be reliably detected. More recently with nucleic acid amplification tests, the sensitivity of tests has increased greatly and with that the time until results are conclusive have likewise shortened. This answer may be more than you wanted and I really do not want to go into greater detail On this complex, technical issue.
I hope the information I have provided is helpful to you. Bottom line, your results are conclusive, please believe them. EWH
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37 months ago
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Thanks for a quick and comprehensive answer. No more follow-up needed.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
37 months ago
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Thank you. I’m glad the information I provided was helpful. Stay safe. EWH---