Watch out for HPV

HPV is one of the most common STIs in Australia and yet is not as well known as Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea. One concern is that many individuals doing a pre-relationship screening will test for Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, Syphilis, Hepatitis and HIV and may well then assume they have a clean bill of sexual health. Unfortunately, HPV can slip the radar as it can not be tested for like the other STIs. In fact, the main way to diagnose an HPV infection is to visibly see and test warts that the infection causes. These are also not always visible and it's possible to be infected and not have symptoms. So the message here is that there are STIs that standard testing can't detect and that the human factor still exists when screening your new sexual partner. You should ask if they have had any genital warts or concerns about exposure to HPV or if they (or you) have been vaccinated against it.