By Rajasri Chandra, MS, MBA
Infections transmitted through sexual contact, including vaginal, anal, and oral sex are called sexually transmitted infections (STI)s. There are more than 30 different bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause STIs.1 And some infections can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.1 STIs are a global health problem, including in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) 2022 STI Surveillance Report, more than 2.5 million cases of Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported in the United States, making STI a great public health concern.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this article, the reader will be able to:
- List the main sexually transmitted pathogens and the diseases they cause.
- Discuss STIs that can result in a risk of cancer.
- List and describe the test methodologies used for diagnosis of STIs and the benefits of each.
- Describe the type of settings that STI testing is used in.
Rajasri Chandra, MS, MBA is a global marketing leader
with expertise in managing upstream, downstream,
strategic, tactical, traditional, and digital marketing in
biotech, in vitro diagnostics, life sciences, and
pharmaceutical industries. Raj is an orchestrator of
go-to-market strategies driving complete product life cycle
from ideation to commercialization
Course Includes
- 1 Article
- 1 Test
- Course Certificate
MLO and Northern Illinois University (NIU), DeKalb, IL, are co-sponsors in offering continuing education units (CEUs) for this issue’s CE article. CEUs or contact hours are granted by the College of Health and Human Sciences at Northern Illinois University, which has been approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® program. Continuing education credits awarded for successful completion of this test are acceptable for the ASCP Board of Registry Continuing Competence Recognition Program. Readers who pass the test successfully (scoring 70% or higher) will receive a certificate for 1 contact hour of P.A.C.E.® credit. The fee for this continuing education test is $20. This test was prepared by Amanda Voelker, MPH, MT(ASCP), MLS, Clinical Education Coordinator, School of Health Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Passing scores of 70 percent or higher are eligible for 1 contact hour of P.A.C.E. credit. This test is no longer valid for CEUs after December 2025.
NIU is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E. ® Program.