Is HPV included in STI testing?

[SlightConcern]

So, here's my situation. When I went to go get tested for STIs, the doctor at the youth clinic told me that there wasn't much to test for me, but I insisted on doing an STI test for a peace of mind. She only took my urine for testing. Do you think she tested for HPV with my urine? What is the likelihood of me having HPV if my partner and I have never done anything sexual except for oral and only with each other? Also, another thing, I asked my mum if she had HIV, and she said most likely no, should I be concerned and go get tested for HIV? I figured she'd know if she did have HIV.(because she would need regular checkups for HIV?)

[Heather]

What is included in STI testing is generally what you ask to have included or, if you do not request any specific tests, what a health are provider decides, themselves, they should test you for. A healthcare provider will take your sexual history into account and often suggest certain tests based on what it looks like your risks may have been, but if they do not suggest tests you want, you get to ask for those.

An HPV test, specifically, is not usually done unless a) a patient requests it, or b) a patient has a pap smear that shows cervical cell irregularities (assuming we are talking about someone with a vagina who can get that test). Because cervical cell abnormalities are overwhelmingly due to HPV, a pap smear usually can tell a provider if a patient most likely has HPV. But there is no urine test for HPV, nor for any STIs, so if someone just tested your urine, then you did not have STI testing. You can certainly ask what they did test it for, however, as that is information that should bave been shared with you.

HIV is something that is sound to get tested for if you have had genital intercourse or oral sex, especially unprotected, or have done any needle sharing with recreational drug use. There is no need to be concerned you contracted it from your mother at birth because yes, both she and yourself would not have stayed well anything close to this long without treatment.

[SlightConcern]

Is it possible that my mum could have passed HPV to me from birth without me knowing? Also, is there a difference between the term STI and STD? I thought urine could be tested for STDs/STIs? Thanks so much for the help in advance.

[Heather]

Here is a lowdown for you on STI testing, and what tests for each involve: Testing, Testing.... You'll note that none of those tests are urine tests, with the exception of Chlamydia, which can be tested via urine. Urine testing is mostly for pregnancy tests or to look for urinary tract infections only when it comes to reproductive/sexual health. I'm not sure why your doctor did a urine test or what they were testing for, nor why, if they did, they gave you the idea that was a way to test for STIs. Sounds like there may have been a communication breakdown here, so for future reference, what you just want to do anytime a doctor says they are doing something to test you for something, you want to ask what they are testing for, specifically.

I can't know your mother's STI status. If she has never had any sexual healthcare at all (which is unlikely, especially if she got any care while pregnant with you or during delivery), she can't, either. HPV, however, is not one of the STIs at all likely to be passed to an infant during birth. HIV and Herpes are the ones to be concerned about there. Mind, the vast majority of people who have been at all sexually active in their life will have contracted or will contract HPV at some point. Not everyone, but most. When people use barriers for intercourse or oral sex, it is way less likely, but even then, barriers do a better job of protecting against infections that pass via body fluids than those, like HPV and Herpes, that pass via skin-to-skin contact, because condoms (unlike dental dams) do not cover the whole surface of either person's genitals. Too, don't forget, if you have not had them already, that there are now immunizations for HPV that do a great job of preventing the most strains that are actually dangerous: those that can result in cancers. If you haven't had those, that's something else you can ask your doctor about.

The terms STD and STI are often used interchangeably, however, for most of these infections, STI is more accurate. The I = infection. The D = disease. And disease, on the whole, is a term used medically to describe illness that is necessarily progressive. However, as most STIs, when treated, are not, most are not actually diseases, but only infections, thus, STI. Make sense?

[SlightConcern]

Yes, it makes sense! Thank you for being patient with me and alleviating any fears and misconceptions I had.