Search site...

STIQ Day

January 14, 2020
Uncategorised

Randox Biosciences supporting STIQ Day with a 10-plex STI test


STIQ Day takes place on the 14th of January every year, its focus is to help raise awareness and to put emphasis on the importance of sexual health, and to encourage regular health checks especially around and after the holiday seasons. More and more people in the UK are catching STIs and each year infection rate is rising.1 Randox Biosciences supports this cause by offering a cost-effective solution for accurate testing through a 10-plex STI test – detecting 10 STIs from a single patient urine sample.

Issue On The Rise

During 2018 6,086 new STI diagnoses were made in Northern Ireland alone, 65% of new STI diagnoses were in males. The highest rates of chlamydia infection in both males and females were in the 20–24 years age group, accounting for 35% of male and 46% of female diagnoses. In 2018 there were 882 new episodes of gonorrhoea diagnosed in Northern Ireland GUM clinics, an increase of 30% since 2017. 69% of female diagnoses were in the 16–24 years age group and 25% were in the 25–34 years age group. Gonorrhoea is the second most common bacterial STI in the UK after chlamydia.2

The danger with STIs is many are asymptomatic; meaning the infection fails to show the noticeable symptoms with which it is usually associated. STIs are usually spread by having vaginal, oral, or anal sex. More than 9 million women in the United States are diagnosed with an STI each year.3 Women often have more serious health problems from STIs than men, including infertility, passing the infection onto the new-born and infection in other parts of the body.3 1 in 12 who get tested find they are infected with an STI as most do not have any symptoms and may remain dormant for years.4

Another issue on the rise in regard to STIs is the emerging cases of super gonorrhoea which is developing antibiotic resistance to three of the most common medications used to treat bacterial infections.4 According to the World Health Organisation they have a high-level of resistance to the current treatment of the infection which includes penicillin, sulphonamides, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, macrolides. Super gonorrhoea has been reported by several countries including France, Japan, Spain, Australia and the UK.5 It is extremely important to get routinely tested. The earlier the diagnosis the earlier the treatment and less of a chance to long-term health problems.

Randox Biosciences 10-plex STI Test

Randox Biosciences offers a CE marked 10-plex STI test which is carried out on Vivalytic – our molecular analyser which is powered by our award-winning Biochip Technology is the diagnostic solution. This multiplex array is the broadest cartridge-based test on the market for point-of-care use simultaneously detecting 10 bacterial, viral and protozoan infections including primary, secondary and asymptomatic co-infections for a complete infection profile using a single swap sample. This test detects the following 10 infections:

  • Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG)
  • Mycoplasma genitalium (MG)
  • Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU)
  • Chlamydia trachomatis (CT)
  • Trichomonas vaginalis (TV)
  • Haemophilus ducreyi (HD)
  • Mycoplasma hominis (MH)
  • Treponema pallidum (TP)
  • Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1)
  • Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2)

To find out more about our STI Array or Vivalytic analyser email: info@randoxbiosciences.com

References :

  1. STIQ (2020.) About STiQ Day. [online] Available at: http://www.stiq.co.uk/about/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
  2. Public Health Agency (2019). STI Surveillance Report. [online] Available at: https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/201908/STI%20surveillance%20report%202019.pdf [Accessed 08 Jan. 2020].
  3. Womens Health (2019). Sexually Transmitted Infections. [online] Available at: https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/sexually-transmitted-infections [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
  4. Lets Get Checked (2019). Highest Rate of STIs in the UK. [online] Available at: https://www.letsgetchecked.com/articles/highest-rate-of-stis-in-the-uk/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2020].
  5. World Health Organisation (2020). What’s ‘Super’ about Super Gonorrhoea? [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-antibiotic-awareness-week/world-antibiotic-awareness-week-2018/features-from-around-the-world/super-gonorrhoea-q-a-with-dr.-teodora-wi [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].