Every infective disease including STDs need some time to develop after the period of possible infection. That is called the "time of incubation". So, if you take medical tests for STDs right after the risky sexual behavior, the results will be probably negative. Even if the results are positive, it's possible that some previous sexual encounter was the experience where you've contracted the infection. An incubation period can vary depending upon the infective agent and the patient. Here are the values of the incubation period for some STDs:
1. Genital herpes - 2 to 7 days;
2. Genital warts – about 3 months;
3. Trichomonas vaginalis – 4 days to 3 weeks;
4. Syphilis – 10 to 90 days;
5. HIV/AIDS – 2 to 8 weeks but asymptomatic period can reach even 5 years;
6. Gonorrhea – 3 to 10 days;
7. Chlamydia – 7 to 14 days.
If you are sure that your sexual partner has an STD, you can visit your gynecologist as soon as possible. If not you, can wait at least a week.
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