Simply if you thought you’d invested in your sexual schooling, Mgen entered the chat. With regards to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Mgen is lesser identified than chlamydia and gonorrhoea – in truth, a latest LloydsPharmacy On-line Physician survey revealed that fewer than 15% of individuals have ever heard of it.
And but, it is estimated that two in each 100 sexually lively UK adults have Mgen.
What’s Mgen?
Full identify Mycoplasma Genitalium, Mgen is brought on by a kind of micro organism that infects the urinary tracts of women and men. It may be unfold by vaginal and anal intercourse, however transmission also can happen with out penetration.
The rationale it’s so prevalent however nonetheless flies underneath the radar? Mgen wasn’t categorised as an STI till 2015 and is not routinely examined for at clinics, so it not often performs an enormous half within the STI dialog.
In lots of circumstances, Mgen can also be symptomless. So chances are you’ll not even know you may have it, until the micro organism multiply and trigger an an infection that manifests as ache when urinating, uncommon discharge, bleeding after intercourse or between durations, and itching within the genital space.
Find out how to check for Mgen
A vaginal swab at your GP surgical procedure or STI clinic can affirm whether or not you’re affected by Mgen. An alternative choice that presently has numerous buzz round it’s Daye’s STI diagnostic tampon.
It makes use of a polymerase chain response (PCR) check to display for 5 of the most typical STIs – specifically chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomonas, mycoplasma and ureaplasma – and likewise Mgen micro organism.
In response to Daye, the method could not be less complicated: insert the tampon as common, then pop it into the extraction resolution (a bit like with an at-home COVID-19 check).
After sending it to a lab for testing, your outcomes arrive digitally through the Daye app inside 5 to 10 working days. Additionally, you will get entry to digital consultations with sexual well being consultants and remedy choices.
However can a tampon actually precisely diagnose an STI higher than a swab?
In concept, a tampon would appear to be a much less intrusive means of reaching the cervix than a swab or speculum as it’s an object we’re intimately aware of.
And, sure, on the plus aspect, an at-home STI check – and its discreet prescription choices – keep away from any embarrassment about visiting your GP or an STI clinic after having unprotected intercourse, or if you’re all of a sudden experiencing the uncomfortable signs of an STI akin to Mgen.
“The privateness and accessibility of a tampon-based check might encourage extra frequent STI screenings amongst girls,” agrees Dr Poobashni Govender, a girls’s well being physician and co-founder of Mercuri Well being. “It lowers some boundaries to testing, akin to clinic visits, which some may discover inconvenient or uncomfortable.”
Nevertheless, Dr Govender factors out that it’s worthwhile to insert and put on the Daye tampon for 20 minutes if you don’t have your interval, “probably making the pattern assortment a really uncomfortable expertise. Whereas a scientific swab or a self-swab residence check takes seconds.”