Sexual Health STDs Diagnosis How Long Should You Wait for STD Testing? By Elizabeth Boskey, PhD facebook twitter linkedin Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, MPH, CHES, is a social worker, adjunct lecturer, and expert writer in the field of sexually transmitted diseases. Learn about our editorial process Elizabeth Boskey, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Cristian Zanartu, MD on October 05, 2020 twitter Cristian Zanartu, MD, is a licensed board-certified internist who has worked for over five years in pain and palliative medicine. Learn about our Medical Review Board Cristian Zanartu, MD on October 05, 2020 Print Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Types of Tests Time and Accuracy Getting Results Informing Partners Infidelity and Disclosure Unfortunately, the question of when to get an STD test isn't easy to answer. To start with, STD testing isn't perfect. Even if you have theoretically waited long enough for a test to work, you could still end up with a false positive or a false negative. You also need to account for the fact that not all STD tests work in the same way. Some tests look directly for the presence of a disease-causing virus or microorganism (pathogen). Others look for your body's immune response to the infection. Peter Dazeley / Getty Images Pathogen and Antibody Tests In theory, tests that look directly for the pathogen should become positive faster. That's because pathogens are there from the start of the infection. However, these tests often require samples from an infected location to work. That's not always easy to come by. For example, herpes swabs are notoriously sensitive to timing. They only work during a very short window of active infection. The accuracy and ease of these tests are very disease-dependent. New tools have allowed doctors to develop reliable urine testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Other infections, such as HPV and herpes, may be more difficult to detect without the presence of an obvious sore or lesion. In contrast, blood tests that look for antibodies don't require a doctor to know where to sample. What they do require is time to turn positive. Your body's immune system must first react to the infection and then produce detectable levels of antibodies for these tests to work. Different types of antibodies peak at different times after infection. In some cases, this fact can be used to determine how long you've been infected with an STD. However, the delayed response also affects how long it takes for a test to become reasonably predictive of infection. Waiting Times and Test Result Accuracy Answering how long it would take for someone to definitively test positive or negative on an STD test after a risky sexual encounter requires knowing a number of things, including: What STDs the person had been exposed toWhat tests were being used to detect the infection There are also other, more nebulous factors that could play a role. Unfortunately, this makes it impossible to give someone a definitive answer on how long they should wait to go get a test. It's a difficult question even from a research standpoint. How do you ethically and practically expose someone to an STD and then repeatedly test them to determine how long it takes for them to test positive? Because of this, there is little to no solid data about how long after an exposure people should wait to get tested for many STDs. Common practice suggests that people could go in for basic testing for bacterial STDs as soon as two to three weeks after an exposure. (They could, and should, go even sooner if they have symptoms.) However, they would need to be retested again at least three to six months out in order to feel relatively certain of their results. At a month out, some tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea would be reasonably accurate. Still, tests for other diseases such as herpes and HIV take longer to become conclusive. If you had a particularly high-risk encounter, six months is a pretty conclusive follow-up period for most STDs. That doesn't mean you don't want to get tested sooner. It just says when you might want to go back to a standard screening schedule. Getting Results Once you've gotten tested, you have to wait for results. There are some rapid STD tests available, like a chlamydia test that can show results in 30 minutes. These can give results in an hour or less. However, not every clinic stocks rapid tests and they're not available for every STD. If you're interested in rapid tests, your best bet is an STD clinic. You can call in advance to ask what rapid testing is available. Without that option, STD test results may come back anywhere between 48 hours and two weeks. Ask your doctor whether they'll call with any results or only positive results to avoid potential confusion. STD Testing Doesn't Replace Discussion People often wonder whether they have to tell current/future partners that they might have been exposed to an STD. Whether the question is modified by "What if we only had oral sex?" or "What if it didn't last long?" the answer is usually the same. These are discussions that everybody should be having before they have sex. Most people don't come to sexual relationships completely inexperienced. Therefore, talks about testing and safe sex aren't just appropriate but smart. Still, sometimes the discussion can be difficult. That's why it's always a good idea to practice safe sex, particularly until you're reasonably certain of your test results. Condoms may not be perfect, but latex types still offer protection against STDs. Infidelity and STD Disclosure The question of disclosure is certainly more complicated for people who have been unfaithful to a current partner. However, I have to believe that more people would be willing to forgive an infidelity that didn't unknowingly expose them to STDs than one that did. When someone discloses an infidelity, they at least give their partner a chance to minimize their emotional and physical risk. People may use STD transmission as a tool of manipulation. However, infecting someone with an STD isn't a healthy way to make a partner stay with you or to convince them to overlook an infidelity. Fortunately, once most people get over the initial shock and the stigma of an STD diagnosis, they realize that fear isn't love. Most people would consider intentionally infecting a partner with an STD to keep them around as a form of abuse. Dating with STDs may not always be easy. However, it's better than staying with a partner who is emotionally or physically abusive. The Best At-Home STD Tests Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Legoff J, Péré H, Bélec L. Diagnosis of genital herpes simplex virus infection in the clinical laboratory. Virol J. 2014;11:83. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-11-83 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV basics: testing. Updated September 4, 2019. Workowski KA, Bolan GA. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2015. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2015;64(RR-03):1-137. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. New chlamydia test delivers results in about 30 minutes. 2018. Reed JL, Simendinger L, Griffeth S, Kim HG, Huppert JS. Point-of-care testing for sexually transmitted infections increases awareness and short-term abstinence in adolescent women. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46(3):270-7. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.08.003 Additional Reading Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Condoms and STDs: fact sheet for public health personnel. North Dakota Department of Health. Time periods of interest: HIV, STDs, viral hepatitis. Updated July 2018.