Gonorrhoea Testing Singapore | HIV PEP
Gonorrhoea Testing in Singapore: Gonorrhea, also called “the drip” or “the clap,” is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacterial infection. Gonorrhea can be easily treated.
Testing for gonorrhea
To test for gonorrhea, discharge may be collected from the penis or vagina, or urine may be collected for testing.
If you are asked to collect your own discharge, wipe the cotton swab over the infected body part(s), allowing some discharge to absorb into the swab. The procedure is not painful and takes only a few seconds. For men, the diagnostic value of swab collection performed by oneself and performed by a medical professional are the same, so men may be asked to collect their own penile discharge.
If you are asked to provide the urine sample, void the first urine into the toilet, and collect the mid-stream urine in the urine container, then seal the container tightly. Do not urinate for at least two hours before you provide the urine sample, because more frequent urination can washout the bacteria and interfere with the results. For some tests, you may need to wait for up to a week to get the results.
If you are a woman, a doctor or a nurse will collect the swab sample from the vagina or the cervix. In some instances, a urethral sample may also be taken for analysis. The swab test is generally more accurate than the urine test in women.
If there are symptoms in the eyes, rectum or throat, the physician or nurse will use a swab to collect discharge sample from these body parts. Many clinics are equipped to carry out testing rapidly and give your diagnostic results within a few hours. Newer diagnostic tests for gonorrhea involve DNA (nucleic acid amplification) tests, such as polymerase chain reactions, to identify the genetic materials of gonorrhea-causing bacteria. Although these tests are expensive, they yield rapid and accurate results within a few hours.