STD testing

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An STD test is a medical test for the presence of any of a number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Most STD tests are blood tests, and are usually performed after symptoms are detected (disease), but may be used in screening high risk populations to detect asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. STD tests may test for a single infection, or consist of a number of individual tests for any of a wide range of STIs, including tests for syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis and HIV tests. No procedure tests for all infectious agents, so it is important to be aware what a given test screens for.

STD tests may be used for a number of reasons:

as a diagnostic test for the diagnosis of illness
as a screening test
as a check that prospective long-term sexual partners are free of disease before they engage in sex without safer sex precautions (for example, in fluid bonding, or to attempt to have a baby).
as a check prior to or during pregnancy, to prevent damage to the baby
as a check after birth, to check that the baby has not caught an STI from their mother
to prevent the use of infected donated blood or organs
as part of the process of contact tracing from a known infected individual
as part of mass epidemiological surveillance

Not all STIs appear right away. In some instances a disease can be carried with no outward symptoms, which leaves a greater risk of passing the disease on to others.

[edit] Dependence fallacy

A common fallacy is the view of STD testing as a kind of safe sex practice which overrides the actual practice of safe sex. Tests by definition are only informative and not preventative, and while important in keeping oneself and others informed of a partner's STD status, they do not take the place of preventative safe sex practice -- caution in selecting partners and refraining from promiscuity. They are however essential in the early treatment of STD's, and most STD's are, by current medical science, inherently treatable once discovered.