UK Startup launches at-home STI screening tampons

Daye, a former femcare firm that is now a gynaecological health startup in the UK, has added STI testing to its tampon-based home screening service. This "non-invasive screening" service for STIs is being marketed by the business as a "world first."

As per The Guardian, Daye is reinventing STI testing by empowering women to take charge of their sexual health "in a noninvasive way in the comfort of their own homes," according to Professor Michelle Tempest of Cambridge University's medical school.

The UK Health Security Agency reports that the number of STIs has increased by 24% from the previous year and that women are statistically more vulnerable than men because of the anatomy of the vagina. In spite of this, fewer people are having STI tests performed; more than half of Britishers confess they have never had a sexual health examination.

Although STIs are still highly stigmatized, they can frequently be effectively treated if detected early. Testing is still regarded as painful, awkward, and embarrassing, nevertheless. Since 70% of STIs are asymptomatic, low testing rates suggest that a large number of individuals may not be aware they have an STI.

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How do these tampons help in screening STIs?

These tampons can be used for screening 5 types of STIs (Image via Unsplash/ Josefin)

Daye's STI screening kit tests for trichomonas, mycoplasma, ureaplasma, chlamydia, and gonorrhea using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. According to the news release, the test may identify several pathogens from a single sample and can identify traces of genetic material from pathogens (organisms that cause disease).

With Daye's innovative STI Diagnostic Tampon, individuals can gather a sample in the privacy of their own homes and submit it covertly to a lab for multiple STI testing, with results arriving in five working days. The tampon's silky sugarcane applicator makes insertion easy and painless.

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Risks associated with untreated STIs

These tampons are innovative. (Image via Pexels/ Karolina Grabowska)

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) carry a number of dangerous dangers and major health consequences if left untreated. If you think you may have an STI, it's imperative that you get medical help and the right treatment. Among the dangers connected to untreated STIs are:

Transmission of infection: A lot of STIs are quite contagious. If treatment is not received, you run the danger of infecting new sexual partners and spreading the illness even further.

AIDS-related pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women: Chlamydia and gonorrhea are two STIs that can cause infertility. PID may result in ectopic pregnancies or infertility by damaging and scarring the reproductive organs.

Increased risk of HIV: If a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is left untreated, there is a higher chance that the person will be exposed to and become infected with HIV. HIV may be able to enter the body more easily and spread to sexual partners more easily when an STI is present.

Chronic health problems: HIV and herpes are two STIs that have no known cure and are lifelong illnesses. They can result in long-term consequences and repeated outbreaks, among other chronic health issues, if addressed.

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Daye founder, Valentina Milanova, said:

“Our STI Diagnostic Tampon makes STI testing extremely easy, comfortable, and discrete. We hope our approach will end the stigma, revolutionize STI testing, and lead to a dramatic uptick in the number of women getting checked, helping them protect their long-term health and fertility.”

Milanova is working to increase the technique's applicability and utility, even though she sees it as a useful tool that can help women learn a lot more about their own bodies in the comfort of their own bathrooms.