{"id":16026,"date":"2026-04-20T08:05:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/?p=16026"},"modified":"2026-04-20T08:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:06:10","slug":"16026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/16026\/","title":{"rendered":"Laboratory Diagnostics of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Estonia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background and Objectives.<\/strong> In recent years, the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has increased across Europe. In Estonia, the number of reported cases has declined since the early 2000s and remained relatively stable during the past years. Over the same period, significant changes have occurred in the laboratory diagnostics of infectious diseases, including the introduction of molecular methods and the centralisation of laboratory services.<br \/>\nThe aim of this study was: 1) to assess changes in Estonian STI laboratory diagnostics over the past two decades; 2) to compare testing practices and the proportion of positive results between men and women; and 3) to compare national surveillance data obtained from the Estonian Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre (TEHIK) Health Information System (TIS), the Health Board, and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Methods.<\/strong> This retrospective descriptive study was based on data from a nationwide laboratory survey conducted in Estonia in 2001 and on data from 2024 obtained from the Health Information System, the Health Board, and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.<br \/>\nThe analysis focused on five STI pathogens (Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Mycoplasma genitalium). Test volumes, diagnostic methods, and laboratory results were analysed. Gender differences in testing and positivity rates were assessed.<br \/>\n<strong>Results.<\/strong> The number of laboratories performing STI diagnostics decreased from 62 in 2001 to 20 in 2024, while diagnostic methods have become predominantly molecular. Overall test volumes have declined for most pathogens by 9-34%, except for C. trachomatis, where testing has increased by 32%. Compared to men, women are tested significantly more often (71-84% of those tested were women), whereas the proportion of positive tests for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, T. pallidum, and M. genitalium is 2-18 times higher among men. Up to one third of laboratory-confirmed cases were not reflected in the official Health Board statistics.<br \/>\n<strong>Conclusions.<\/strong> STI laboratory diagnostics in Estonia have become significantly more accurate and compliant with international guidelines.<br \/>\nThe study revealed a pronounced gender imbalance in testing practices, suggesting underdiagnosis among men. To improve epidemiological surveillance accuracy, implementation of an electronic, automated monitoring system based on Health Information System (TIS) laboratory data is recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background and Objectives. In recent years, the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has increased across Europe. In Estonia, the number of reported cases has declined since the early 2000s and remained relatively stable during the past years. Over the same period, significant changes have occurred in the laboratory diagnostics of infectious diseases, including the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1540],"class_list":["post-16026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-research","authors-jogeda-et-al"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16028,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16026\/revisions\/16028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eestiarst.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}