Product test
The Braun Body Groomer Series 7 review: a tragedy in five acts
by Stephan Lamprecht
What is the value of home STI screening tests?
28.8.2020
Translation: machine translated
Sex is cool, STIs less so. But knowing about STIs is essential. So you don't have to run to the doctor after a wild weekend, there are STI screening tests you can do at home.
Sexually transmitted infections are taboo. Nobody likes to talk about their latest gonorrhoea infection, a disease associated with sloppiness and promiscuity. Most people could do without this supposed stigma. Even tests at the doctor's after risky contact are likely to trigger a feeling of shame. For some time now, Galaxus has been offering Home Sampling self-test kits for use at home. No need for a doctor or anyone else. What's more, they're less expensive. But do they work easily too?
Will you give me a sample of everything, please?
The postman drops the small cardboard parcel into the milk carton. There is no indication of its contents. It's three test kits - comprising a small tube filled with a little liquid and a swab - for vaginal, anal and tracheal sampling. Instructions, application form and return label are also included. I ordered a combination test to try everything out, but individual sampling kits are also available. The test should be chosen according to the mucous membranes on which the risky contact took place. The contact must have occurred 10 days previously for the disease to be detectable. The venereal diseases (STDs) tested for are chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia), neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhoea) and mycoplasma genitalium (mycoplasma).
While as a woman I have to take three individual smears for the combined test, for men it consists of two smears and a so-called first-draft urine sample. Why is this? Gabi Riesenkamp from the Invenimus medical laboratory - who is responsible for evaluating the samples sent in - explains it to me when I visit the site a few days later to examine the analysis procedure. "In women, a vaginal smear is preferable to a urine sample, as STI pathogens prefer the mucous membranes of the vagina to those of the urethra. In men, only the urethra is involved. In this case, the first urine stream gives reliable results, since the bacteria present in the mix are eliminated from the urethra and can therefore be detected."
Clear instructions
So everything separately. The instructions are clear. For example, in the tracheal test, I must not eat or drink for at least an hour beforehand or touch my teeth or tongue if possible. "Because the sample will most likely trigger a gag reflex, it makes sense not to have a full stomach," explains Gabi Riesenkamp. I prepare the sampling kit. I unscrew the tube, put it in a safe place and unwrap the swab without touching the tip. I swab the tonsils several times, dipping the swab stick first into the liquid in the tube. At the breaking point marked by a red line, I break the rod and screw the sample back in. All that's left to do is send it back.
I go to the post office to drop off the box with forwarding label and containing the three tests and the request form. Now we have to wait for the results. They should reach me within three days. I received the redemption email the next morning, even though all the other tests in addition to those for STIs - blood tests and nasopharyngeal swabs for coronavirus - were carried out at the Kloten laboratory. I wasn't expecting such a rapid response. "We try to test samples received the same day so as not to make people wait unnecessarily," explains Gabi Riesenkamp.
Slight doubts
The speed with which these self-tests respond is convincing, as is the do-it-yourself sampling. The descriptions accompanied by text and images are very clear. Nevertheless, a feeling of uncertainty remains as to whether I have really done everything correctly. Have I exposed the swab to my mucous membranes long enough? Exactly how deep is five centimetres? Gabi Riesenkamp reassures me. "A test doesn't become useless so quickly. If you follow the instructions as closely as possible, our equipment will give a reliable result. Too little cellular material in a sample is detected during the analysis. The sender is then contacted and, if necessary, a sampling kit is sent out again."
Other people seem to feel the same way. "Home Sampling self-tests are well used, but the majority of customers still prefer to come to us," explains Gabi Riesenkamp. This is partly because they need a "psychological cleansing". "They want someone to talk to about their problems, who isn't too close, who doesn't judge and who, by law, is bound by professional secrecy. "Those who don't need it or want to make as little effort as possible for a test are more likely to have it done at home.
A blood sample at the end
The test for HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis must be carried out in a laboratory, with an intravenous blood sample taken. No appointment is necessary for this, so I don't have to wait to be tested. Within minutes, the blood is drawn, although most of the medical staff generally complain about my veins. When Gabi Riesenkamp withdraws the needle, not a drop of blood escapes. There also follows a short exchange about how men's stomachs are fragile.
My dark red blood sample goes straight back to the lab to Silvia Hahner, who is in charge of the analysis. She shows me how the serum is separated from all my blood in the centrifuge. Only the first part is needed for the antibody test. The rest is also done almost entirely automatically in the large machines, which are nevertheless constantly checked by the staff. She also shows me where and how the samples I submitted were tested, either in a large black machine using the PCR method, where DNA is amplified from the sample and then analysed.
The assessment of sexually transmitted infections accounts for only a small proportion of the 200 or so daily orders. Iron is the subject of the majority of tests, followed by coronavirus at the moment and the thyroid gland. "Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an inflammation of the thyroid gland that is particularly common in the general population. It is thought to be caused by an excess of iodine", explains Silvia Hahner. This is what is found in ordinary table salt, the most important product in my kitchen. Perhaps a test like this would be useful to me at some point.
First of all, a clarification of the most common venereal diseases is enough for me. The same day, I receive the assessment of my blood test. I'm now up to date. Taking samples at home and in the laboratory is no problem at all. As I'm not one of those people who attach great importance to "psychological cleansing", but prefer to clarify matters with themselves, I tend to prefer self-tests with home smear sampling. Even more so now that I know I can be confident of the result, making sure, of course, that I read the instructions carefully. Which I don't do if it's a piece of furniture...
My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.
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