Get tested, starting at home: Quest launches direct ordering of STD diagnostic kits - FierceBiotech
Get tested, starting at home: Quest launches direct ordering of STD diagnostic kits - FierceBiotech |
- Get tested, starting at home: Quest launches direct ordering of STD diagnostic kits - FierceBiotech
- April is STD Awareness Month - Mountain Democrat
- Can She Make Her $79 Home STD Test as Common as a Flu Shot? - OZY
- At-home testing kit and Apple Health partner LetsGetChecked secures $30M in funding - FierceHealthcare
- Toddler tests positive for STD after rape, police say - FOX 5 San Diego
| Get tested, starting at home: Quest launches direct ordering of STD diagnostic kits - FierceBiotech Posted: 19 Apr 2019 12:00 AM PDT  Quest Diagnostics has launched three new test kits for sexually transmitted diseases that consumers can order and purchase online directly, within the privacy of their own home. Research has shown that many people and some providers are reluctant to discuss STD screening and disease risks. Quest aims to circumvent this through its QuestDirect program, with its first at-home tests covering the most prevalent STDs in the U.S.—including HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomonas—and starting at $49 for an individual test. Completing the tests, however, still requires walking in to one of Quest's patient service centers, including some in grocery stores and retail locations. The kits are now available in the continental U.S., with results available online typically within one week, the company said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia have risen for at least four years, with nearly 2.3 million STD cases in 2017. This includes one-in-four sexually active adolescents, with still more cases possibly not presenting symptoms. RELATED: Quest to allow patients to order lab testing from home "Greater access to accurate testing, diagnoses, and treatment is particularly critical in sexual and reproductive health, where medications can often quickly cure many common STDs," said Cathy Doherty, Quest's group executive for clinical franchise solutions and marketing. After consumers select their own lab tests online, licensed physicians provide clinical oversight and order the tests. They can also evaluate and discuss the results, as well as recommend any follow-up treatments. Launched last November, the company's QuestDirect program now offers more than 35 individual tests and packages, covering general health, infectious diseases and men's and women's health, as well as kits aimed at digestive and cardiovascular health. In addition, Quest has expanded its work with Safeway and Walmart, installing 200 of the company's over 2,200 service centers in their locations.  |
| April is STD Awareness Month - Mountain Democrat Posted: 22 Apr 2019 10:02 AM PDT  April is National Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month. The Public Health Division of the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency is reaching out to the community during the month of April to provide information about STDs, risk factors and ways people can protect themselves and those around them. "Sexually transmitted diseases are more common that people think and can create long term health problems if left untreated, including infertility," said Michael Ungeheuer, RN, MN, PHN, Public Health Deputy Director. "Our goal is to raise awareness, especially among people who may not know they are at risk." According to Ungeheuer, chlamydia and gonorrhea are the two most common types of STDs among those tested in El Dorado County. In 2018, approximately 500 chlamydia and 100 gonorrhea infections were identified in the county. In addition, a total of 19 cases of syphilis, including one case of congenital syphilis (a baby born with syphilis), were identified in El Dorado County in 2018. Syphilis rates have been rising across California in recent years. This is concerning because syphilis infection can have serious complications for adults or their offspring if untreated. Babies born with syphilis infections can have problems such as cataracts, deafness or seizures and can die. Fortunately, syphilis can be cured with the right treatment. Young people are more likely to get an STD compared to older people, but anyone can be at risk. Risk factors for getting an STD include: The risk of getting an STD can be reduced by using condoms, dams or other barrier protection during sex; limiting the number of sexual partners; avoiding recreational drug use and excessive alcohol use; and refraining from sex completely. Not everyone who has an STD has symptoms. In fact the most common symptom of an STD is no symptom at all. The only way a person can know if they have an STD is to get tested. Pregnant women are routinely tested for STDs during the first trimester of their pregnancies. In addition to pregnant women, the following individuals are especially encouraged to be tested for STDs: STD testing is typically conducted at a doctor's office or health clinic, though some people use online and home screening kits. Ungeheuer advised that home collected specimens can have higher false-positive results, and show that a person is infected when they actually are not. "If a home STD test is positive, contact your health care provider or the public health clinic to confirm the result," said Ungeheuer. "El Dorado County Public Health offers confidential STD screening, evaluation and treatment in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. We are an expert resource for education and prevention of communicable diseases including sexually transmitted infections." For more information about STDs visit std.ca.gov. For more information about El Dorado County Public Health Clinical services visit edcgov.us/publichealth.
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| Can She Make Her $79 Home STD Test as Common as a Flu Shot? - OZY Posted: 20 Dec 2018 12:00 AM PST Four years ago, Lora Ivanova was catching up with her friend Ursula Hessenflow at a Los Angeles cafe. Both women were single at the time, and the conversation quickly turned to dating in L.A. One of the biggest frustrations, the two agreed, was talking about safe sex with someone you're just getting to know. How do you get past the awkwardness of asking a new partner whether they've been tested? "And if you're not getting tested, there's no way to make the conversation easier," Ivanova, 39, says with a slight Bulgarian accent. She and Hessenflow realized that a huge barrier to getting screened for sexually transmitted diseases is the stigma that comes with it. This is especially true for women, many of whom grow up believing that having multiple sexual partners is shameful. But what if you could test yourself at home? "We figured we were just out of the loop — something like that must already exist," Ivanova says, her bright yellow earrings bouncing as she talks animatedly about the inception of her company. Today, myLAB Box, co-founded by Ivanova and Hessenflow, is the only at-home testing service focused on sexual health. Competitors sell kits that screen for myriad other health conditions in addition to STDs, but myLAB Box is the only company that prioritizes sexual wellness. The kit is available through the company's website or from Target, Walmart and Amazon and arrives in an unmarked package. Kits for the most common STDs, like gonorrhea and chlamydia, HIV or genital herpes, cost $79, with combination tests ranging upward in price. You mail in a urine or blood-prick sample or genital swab and receive lab results within one to five days. If you're positive, an STD counselor will call to discuss your treatment options and can often prescribe medication you can pick up the same day. "We knew right away we wanted a solution that would result in treatment," says Ivanova, the company's CEO. Her next, more difficult, task? Making this all as easy and affordable as a flu shot. The daughter of two engineer parents, Ivanova spent most of her formative years in Sofia, Bulgaria, playing outside with the neighborhood boys. Her goals took shape early: "I wanted to be two things when I grew up," she recalls. "An astronaut and … a smoker. I'll let you guess which one I accomplished," she laughs — though she quit smoking nearly a year ago. A full scholarship to National University brought Ivanova to St. Louis, Missouri, for college, where she double majored in theater and business. She found she fit in quite well with Americans. "I really bought into the idea of corporate success," she says. Upon graduating, she headed to L.A., working at Newegg.com, Mindshare LA and the National Football League. But a few years in, she felt like something was missing. "I always thought I'd be an artist, but I loved the business world too," Ivanova says. "I was struggling to find how the two could coexist." When she fastened on the need for an at-home STD test, she knew she was onto something — not only a successful business idea but the path to a more fulfilling career and creative outlet. "I realized money isn't the measure of personal worth," Ivanova says. "What matters is whether I'm doing something to help people."
There's a growing need for her service. From 2013 to 2017, syphilis cases in the U.S. nearly doubled, gonorrhea increased by 67 percent and cases of chlamydia remain at an all-time high, according to the latest report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And still, many Americans avoid getting tested. MyLAB Box's initial funding was bootstrapped by Ivanova and Hessenflow, but this year they closed $1.5 million in seed funding, allowing them to expand their offerings to include cervical cancer screenings. Of the 79 million Americans currently infected with the HPV virus, some strains will resolve on their own, but others can cause cancer, and early detection is critical. But treating people faster with at-home testing can be complicated, especially when it comes to HPV. "There are about 30 types of HPV — some cause warts, some lead to the precursor of cervical cancer," says Dr. Hilary Reno, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. "If a woman over 30 is positive [for the precursor to cervical cancer], she has to go see a doctor." What's more, Reno worries the myLAB Box kits are too pricey for the population with the greatest STD burden. "Groups of lower socioeconomic status certainly can't afford this test," she says, though some insurance plans do offer reimbursement for the cost of the kits.  "The truth of the matter is STIs [sexually transmitted infections] don't 'pick' which individuals to infect based on socioeconomic status," says Ivanova. We need to focus on a solution that will be adopted by the masses, she says, starting with "acknowledging STIs are everyone's problem." To that end, MyLAB Box will offer more comprehensive, affordable and easy-to-use testing options in 2019 and Ivanova says she's excited about companies offering similar services. "It's a promising indicator the rest of the industry is not only paying attention but beginning to follow suit." she says. With Ivanova at the helm, Hessenflow is certain myLAB Box will succeed no matter what. "Lora is one of the most tenacious people I know," says Ivanova's co-founder. "If she says she's going to do something, it will happen." To stay balanced and focused amid her crazy schedule, Ivanova relies on her local support system, her "chosen family." She is also inspired by a handful of mentors, including current and former CEOs, as well as spiritual guides who help clarify what she wants out of life. What she wants right now is to improve access to health care in the U.S. "Ultimately we're just an intermediary between the consumer and pre-existing health care," Ivanova says. "We just want everyone to get the same level of care." And to make encounters with a new partner a little less awkward. Read more: Could this secret Greek swimming hole fight your STD?  |
| Posted: 14 May 2019 08:30 AM PDT  Venture capitalists are showing an increased interest in startups that offer direct-to-consumer healthcare services as a lower-cost alternative to more traditional services. Among the top areas gaining traction: diagnostics. LetsGetChecked, a direct-to-consumer at-home health testing company, recently secured $30 million in a series B funding round led by LTP, a Boston-based growth equity investment firm. Existing investor Qiming Venture Partners also participated in the round. Health consulting firm Startup Health reports that diagnostic and screening tools, as a subsector of digital health, raised $2.3 billion in funding in 2018. LetsGetChecked, which launched in 2014, plans to use the funding to continue scaling the company's consumer brand in diagnostics, as it currently serves the entire U.S., Canada, and Europe. The funding will also fuel development of the core technology platform and expand manufacturing and logistical capabilities throughout North America, company officials said. LetsGetChecked's portfolio of testing procedures currently includes wellness testing, such as cholesterol and thyroid lab tests, cancer screening, sexual health testing, fertility testing, genetic testing, and pharmacogenomic testing. The company provides the tests to consumers through its website and through partner retailers, including CVS and Walmart online stores. LetsGetChecked CEO Peter Foley told FierceHealthcare the company plans to focus on specialist and genetic testing. "This will provide a unique proposition whereby consumers can identify risk factors with genetics and then use screening to monitor an issue should it be identified," he said. RELATED: Venture deals, funding for digital health companies reached $9.5B last year The company partners with connected health devices such as Apple Health, Fitbit and Garmin to provide consumers access to a range of health data via its health dashboard. By combining lab results with real-time wearable data, consumers can receive risk assessments and scores such as their cardiovascular health to determine the probability of developing a heart attack within a given time frame, according to the company. The company has shipped 152,700 testing kits to date, Foley said. Convenience is the single biggest driver in the growth of at-home testing services, he said: "Consumers expect everything to be delivered to the home now, with the age of Amazon and other big e-commerce brands. Healthcare and diagnostics are no different." At-home health testing startup EverlyWell recently raised $50 million in series B financing led by Goodwater Capital and Highland Capital Partners. Austin-based EverlyWell has scaled up from three tests in 2016 to 35 different testing panels ranging from food sensitivity to fertility, according to the company. The testing kits are sold online as well as at retailers CVS and Target. Another company in this space, Sight Diagnostics, raised $28 million in a series C funding round in December. Unlike disgraced Silicon Valley startup Theranos, which purported to invent new blood tests that could perform hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood, these digital health companies are direct-to-consumer testing services that collect consumers' blood samples at home and send them to certified labs for testing. In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Julia Cheek, EverlyWell's founder and chief executive, said the company has shipped 275,000 kits to date and had more than $20 million in sales in 2018 because it offers an affordable shortcut to the often laborious, expensive process of ordering lab tests. Digital-health startups have struck a chord with consumers concerned about rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs, Goodwater Capital Managing Director Eric Kim said in the WSJ article. "As power shifts more to the end consumer, they can become more demanding, and that's why we are starting to see health products that are designed more with the customer in mind," Kim said. RELATED: After record-setting 2018, digital health venture funding levels off Foley said his interest in starting an at-home lab testing company stemmed from his own personal experience. "When I was younger, I had a condition where I benefited from getting screened early. I made a full recovery, but that isn't always the case for people," Foley said in a statement. "Early diagnostics through consumer-led screening can help solve this problem and lead to better clinical outcomes from everyone." Mark McDade, managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners, said LetsGetChecked's continued growth comes at a time when people want more control over their own health. Both LetsGetChecked and EverlyWell partner with CLIA-certified reference labs to perform the lab testing services. EverlyWell says its tests are ordered and reviewed by board-certified physicians and are supported by independent, peer-reviewed research. Once the sample is submitted, consumers can access online results with "evidence-based insights," suggestions, and next steps within a few days' time, according to the company. EverlyWell says its tests are not intended to diagnose diseases with the exception of its STD test offerings. The company will print or email a "doctor friendly" version of test results to consumers' physicians. With LetsGetChecked, patients are connected with in-state board-certified physicians to discuss any abnormal results and determine the best course of action for treatment and care. Patients also receive a nurse call to discuss the results live, which can be accompanied by an e-prescription at no additional cost to the pharmacy of their choice. The company has integrated with large reference labs and health systems and is building partnerships with a growing number of healthcare insurers for personalized screening and home testing procedures, LetsGetChecked executives said.  |
| Toddler tests positive for STD after rape, police say - FOX 5 San Diego Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:00 AM PDT KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Police in Kansas are investigating what led to a 2-year-old girl testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease after evidence of rape was discovered, according to WDAF. Kansas City Police Chief Terry Zeigler said on Twitter the toddler and her siblings had been left at home with a family friend. The next day, the girl's mother noticed evidence of sexual assault. She was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital where she tested positive for an STD, KAKE reported. No arrests have been made. 39.099727 -94.578567  |
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