Hologic, Abbott, and Molecular Testing Labs are among the companies urgently developing tests. Unlike most home kits, CVS’ version is available in stores. Everly Health, a digital health company that sells a variety of lab tests online, reported sales for its suite of STD kits grew 120% in the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2021.ĬVS Health began selling its own bundled STD kit in October, priced at $99.99. Universities and nonprofits are also spearheading at-home testing efforts.Īnd dozens of commercial enterprises are jumping into or ramping up direct-to-consumer sales. In the past three years, as the pandemic prompted clinics that provide low-cost care to drastically curtail in-person services, a number of public health departments - among them state agencies in Alabama, Alaska, and Maryland - have started mailing free STD test kits to residents. Unlike rapid antigen tests for covid, which produce results in 15 to 20 minutes, the home STD kits on the market require patients to collect their own samples, and then package and mail them to a lab for analysis. The issue for regulators is whether sampling kits can be reliably adapted for in-home use. The issue for regulators is whether kits can be reliably adapted for in-home use. Unlike rapid antigen tests for covid, the home STD kits on the market require patients to collect their own samples, and then mail them to a lab for analysis. Medical centers and community health clinics have performed such testing for decades. Depending on the test, it may involve collecting a urine sample, pricking a finger for blood, or swabbing the mouth, genitals, or anus for discharge or cell samples. The medical science underpinning STD testing is not particularly new or mysterious. Diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies see a business opportunity in the unmet demand. Public health officials say their overextended staffers can’t handle the staggering need for testing and surveillance. The push to make at-home testing for STDs as easy and commonplace as at-home covid and pregnancy testing is coming from several sectors. In its most recent prevalence estimate, the agency said that on any given day, 1 in 5 Americans are infected with any of eight common STDs. Reported cases of syphilis and gonorrhea have been climbing for about a decade. Preliminary data for 2021 showed nearly 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If we’re really serious about tackling the STD crisis, we have to get more people diagnosed.” We know that contact tracing is happening late or not at all. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. The STD epidemic is “out of control,” said Dr. That leaves consumers unsure about their reliability even as at-home use grows dramatically. Online shoppers can already choose from more than a dozen self-testing kits, typically ranging in price from $69 to $500, depending on the brand and the variety of infections they can detect.īut, except for HIV tests, the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved STD test kits for use outside a medical setting. The disparity has amplified calls from researchers, public health advocates, and health care companies urging the federal government to greenlight at-home testing kits that could vastly multiply the number of Americans testing for STDs. It can be republished for free.īut that fast-track focus is missing from another, less publicized epidemic: an explosion in sexually transmitted diseases that can cause chronic pain and infertility among infected adults and disable or kill infected newborns.
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