Most of us have heard about infections like HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. However, there are also sexually transmissible infections (STI) that you may not have heard of and that we can’t really test for. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is an example of an infection that many of us have heard of but may not realize that although we can test for HPV among women, we cannot test for HPV among men (except in some research studies, the point being that we are still trying to figure this out). Testing for herpes is challenging in other ways.

Then there are infections that you may not have heard about at all – Mycoplasma genitalium being one of them. Several years ago I was involved in a research study at a clinic where another research team was looking at this infection (sometimes referred to as M. genitalium). The doctors involved in the study explained to me that it was a relatively newer STI, having been identified in the 1980s, but that we still didn’t have good testing available for it so apparently they were working on a testing and treatment study. One doctor also explained to me that when the young women in the clinic had symptoms but otherwise tested negative for things like chlamydia, that they sometimes suspected M. genitalium and were trying to figure out the best treatments for it.

I mention this today because a new research study has just been published in the same journal as our condom study (described below) and in this study the researchers found that one antibiotic course of azithromycin was more effective than a course of another antibiotic (doxycycline, which is also sometimes prescribed for respiratory infections or to prevent malaria if you are traveling or living in a place where malaria is prevalent). Learn more about the study here.

The bottom line is this: When you get tested for STI and your tests come back negative, don’t always assume that you or your partner are really and truly 100% negative. If you or your partner have symptoms such as genital itching, burning, pain, vaginal bleeding, discharge or you notice lesions or sores around your genitals, please check in with your healthcare provider. If you don’t feel like you are getting satisfactory information, check in with another healthcare provider as not all providers are clued in to the "newer" STIs that we have trouble testing for… and yes, there are others for women and for men… but we’ll save those for another day. Even the best, mos well-informed among us are sometimes in denial – not suspecting that our partner could carry an infection or transmit it to us (or be having sex with others) but it happens. That’s not to say that you should suspect the worst in other people – I think it’s admirable to give others the benefit of the doubt – but take good care of your own body too. Take care of yourselves - and each other.

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