STD testing in Taichung: walk-in STI screening, what to test and when

In short

• Walk in; no appointment is needed. One visit to give samples is the usual plan.
• Routine blood tests take 1 working day, PCR tests 3 working days. PCR tests detect the genetic material of a germ. Except for HPV DNA, you can check reports on the clinic’s LINE official account.
• No symptoms does not mean no infection. Testing depends on your exposure, not on how you feel.
• A urine sample alone is the most common gap. After oral sex, the throat needs a sample. After anal sex, the rectum needs a sample.
• The anonymous HIV rapid test at this clinic has no charge and gives a first result in 20 minutes. Free syphilis testing has its own conditions (see below). None of the free services at this clinic covers discharge-type infections or throat and rectal samples.
• A negative result covers this test only. So the repeat test date, PrEP (medicine taken before sex to prevent HIV) and vaccines are planned at the same visit.

Which situation is closest to yours?

A condom broke, or you just had sex without one. First ask whether you are still in time for PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis: anti-HIV medicine started after a possible exposure). Taiwan CDC advises a doctor’s assessment within 72 hours, ideally within 24 hours. The course usually lasts 28 days. A test taken too early may still be inside the window period, so later tests are planned by the date of the exposure.

No symptoms, but you want a regular check. For example: a new partner, sex without a condom, several or anonymous partners, a past STI, PrEP use, or a partner with other partners. If any of these apply, HIV, syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia tests can be arranged according to your exposure history. For men who have sex with men at higher risk, syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia can be checked every 3 to 6 months.

Pain when passing urine, discharge, itching or a bad smell. This is a diagnosis, not a check-up. The doctor considers gonorrhoea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, Mycoplasma genitalium and other infections, and decides at that visit which sites to sample. There is no need to wait for a window period.

Starting a steady relationship, getting married, or stopping condoms. This is a good time for both partners to have a basic check together. The aim is not to ask about past partners. It is to confirm the health of both of you now.

The most common mistake: testing urine only

Infection can occur at any site where there was sexual contact: the throat after oral sex, the rectum after anal sex, the genital and urinary tract after vaginal or penile contact. For gonorrhoea and chlamydia in men who have sex with men, the US CDC guidelines say testing should follow the sites of actual contact, not one urine sample for everyone.

So at a first visit we ask four direct questions: was there oral sex, receptive anal sex (being penetrated), insertive anal sex (penetrating), or vaginal sex? The answers decide where the samples are taken. They are not a judgement on your private life.

Tests commonly used at this clinic

A reactive RPR/VDRL result usually needs a treponemal-specific test (a blood test for antibodies aimed only at the syphilis bacterium) to confirm it, as the doctor decides. Throat and rectal samples can be added. So can anti-HBs (hepatitis B surface antibody), anti-HAV IgG (hepatitis A antibody) and HIV RNA RT-PCR (a test for the genetic material of the virus). All of these are taken at the same sampling visit.

A positive HSV-1/2 IgG or Mycoplasma genitalium result does not always mean you need treatment now. HSV-1/2 IgG only shows past contact with the virus, not where it is or whether you are infectious; the US CDC does not recommend routine screening in adults with no symptoms. It helps when blisters keep coming back but are never swabbed in time, when a partner has genital herpes, or in pregnancy-related assessment. For Mycoplasma genitalium, the US CDC also does not recommend routine screening without symptoms. Antibiotic resistance is rising, and treating people without symptoms makes later treatment harder. It helps with symptoms of urethritis, symptoms that continue after treatment, or a current partner who has been diagnosed with it.

Free services at this clinic: what they cover, and what they do not

This clinic is on two Taiwan CDC rosters (medical institution code 3503241524). There is also a monthly evening session at this clinic, run jointly with the Taiwan Base Association. None of these three services has a charge or a registration fee:

• Taiwan CDC anonymous HIV screening — a rapid blood test, at every consulting session.
• Anonymous syphilis screening for young people or students aged 24 or under — meeting either condition is enough. If you are 24 or under, no identity document is needed. If you are over 24 and still a student, the programme requires a copy of your student card. Test kits come from Taiwan CDC and supply is limited, so please ask on LINE before you come.
• The monthly joint evening session — HIV and syphilis, 18:00–21:00 (please register by 20:30). The dates are on the session page (Chinese).

For the anonymous HIV test we do not check your National Health Insurance card or any identity document, so it is open to you regardless of nationality. There is no charge for it. No formal report can be issued, because no identifying information is recorded. The result is given under a code number, and no National Health Insurance record is created.

The rosters can be checked on the Taiwan CDC page for anonymous counselling and screening. Outside the consulting room there is also an HIV self-test vending machine set up by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with saliva test kits to use at home. It is a government programme, not a clinic service.

Why add self-paid tests? The three free services at this clinic test for HIV and syphilis, the two infections people worry about most. The discharge-type infections — gonorrhoea, chlamydia, Mycoplasma genitalium and trichomoniasis — are not part of them. Among people with a new partner or several partners, these infections are usually more common than HIV. The free services at this clinic also do not include throat or rectal samples (the rapid tests use blood only), HIV RNA RT-PCR soon after an exposure, or a formal written report for work, a visa or insurance. Anonymous screening records no identifying information, so a formal report cannot be issued later. If you need one, it is arranged at the same visit.

How soon after exposure is a test meaningful?

The window period is the gap between infection and the point at which a test can detect it. If you test too early, a negative result means little. If you wait too long, you may miss the time to act. These are usual reference ranges; the laboratory method and the doctor’s reading decide the final answer.

If you are still inside those intervals, it usually does not mean “do not test”. It means: assess whether PEP is needed, record a baseline result, then book the repeat test. HIV RNA RT-PCR can give an earlier answer. But no test can rule infection out completely, and PrEP, PEP or other anti-HIV medicine can affect the result. So PCR does not replace the antigen/antibody tests done later on schedule.

Hepatitis, and checks before travel

Hepatitis B: HBsAg is one key marker of current infection or carrier status. Anti-HBs shows whether you have a measurable level of surface antibody. Anti-HBc can show a past natural infection. Full hepatitis B status cannot be judged from one test alone. If you were fully vaccinated years ago and anti-HBs is now negative, protection is not necessarily gone: Taiwan CDC states that antibody levels can fall while immune memory may remain. A doctor assesses whether you need another dose.

Hepatitis A spreads mainly from stool to mouth (the faecal-oral route), but oral-anal contact and anal sex can also pass it on. Taiwan CDC lists men who have sex with men as a high-risk group. A positive anti-HAV IgG usually means you are already immune. Taiwan CDC advises that high-risk people without the antibody may complete two self-paid doses of hepatitis A vaccine.

Before travel or study abroad, other vaccines can be reviewed at the same visit as your STI tests. If you are going to an area with measles outbreaks, Taiwan CDC currently advises the following. Adults born in 1966 or later who do not have enough proof of vaccination or immunity may have one self-paid dose of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine after a doctor’s assessment. MMR is a live, weakened vaccine, so it is not suitable during pregnancy or for some people with severe immune deficiency. For the African meningitis belt, the Hajj or other high-risk trips, a four-strain meningococcal vaccine can be assessed. The Hajj has specific certificate rules, so plan early.

How often should I be tested?

This follows Taiwan CDC advice on HIV screening, and US CDC advice on frequency and sampling sites in men who have sex with men. A negative result describes one moment only.

Your visit: how many trips, and how reports work

Walk in; no appointment is needed. One visit to give samples is the usual plan. Routine blood tests take about 1 working day and PCR tests about 3 working days. Items that need a second confirmation stage take longer. Except for HPV DNA, reports can be read on the clinic’s LINE official account. If you need a report in English, it can be issued, but this needs a return visit to the clinic. If a report is abnormal, the clinic contacts you and arranges a return visit, so the doctor can explain it in person. Please give a mobile number that can receive calls, and check your report yourself either way: no call does not mean a normal result. This clinic does not provide online consultations or prescriptions.

Two situations are different. If your last high-risk contact was within 72 hours, you need a PEP assessment first, not screening; please say so at registration. If you already have symptoms (discharge, pain when passing urine, an ulcer or a rash), the “give samples and wait for the report” route does not apply. Under the current Taiwan adult syphilis and gonorrhoea guideline, when the signs fit urethritis, treatment usually starts at the same visit. The results later confirm or change it.

The doctor explains any positive result and arranges treatment and care for partners. Prevention can be discussed at the same visit, as needed: PrEP; doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (an antibiotic taken after sex, aimed at syphilis and chlamydia, with little protection against gonorrhoea in Taiwan); the 9-valent HPV vaccine; and hepatitis A and B vaccination.

Please bring your passport or resident certificate; it is needed to create the medical record. Screening tests for people without symptoms are not covered by National Health Insurance, so they are self-paid. If you are not enrolled in Taiwan’s National Health Insurance, the consultation and tests are self-paid. Costs are explained at the consultation.

Before you come: note any symptoms, which sites were exposed, the date of your last possible exposure, and any antibiotics taken in the past two weeks. If a urine sample may be needed, try not to pass urine for one to two hours beforehand.

Privacy, and the legal duty to report

The clinic uses separate consulting rooms and patient routes, so you do not have to explain why you are here in the waiting area.

Some results must be reported by law, whether or not you use National Health Insurance. HIV, syphilis and gonorrhoea are notifiable diseases in Taiwan. When a result meets the official case definition, the clinic must report it to the health authority. The report includes your name and your ID, passport or resident certificate number. Paying for the test yourself does not change this duty.

Since 1 January 2026, if the fourth-generation test finds HIV antigen, the result must be reported, even before a confirmation test (Taiwan CDC revised case definition, letter No. 1140300903). The panel at this clinic uses this fourth-generation antigen/antibody test.

Anonymous screening is done under a code number, with no identifying information recorded. If the rapid test is reactive, the confirmation test and treatment are done under your own name, because medicine and partner care need it. The report goes to the health authority, for disease records and to link you to treatment. Your personal information is protected by the Communicable Disease Control Act, Article 10. A negative result is not reported to the health authority.

Other common questions

Related pages

• HIV PEP in Taichung: assessment within 72 hours
• After a possible exposure: when to test for what
• Anonymous HIV and syphilis screening in Taichung
• HIV RNA RT-PCR after a recent exposure
• Discharge or pain when passing urine
• Gonorrhoea: diagnosis and treatment
• Chlamydia: often no symptoms at all
• Syphilis: symptoms and the window period
• Genital herpes: antibody results and suppressive therapy

Appointments and access

Consultations are conducted in Mandarin, and can also be conducted in English.

昭安泌尿科診所 (Morning Urology Clinic)
No. 98, Boguan 2nd St., West District, Taichung City 403, Taiwan（403 臺中市西區博館二街98號）
Consulting hours: Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday). Online booking is open 24 hours.

This page was produced by 昭安泌尿科診所 (Morning Urology Clinic). Medical content last updated: September 2026 (same as the Traditional Chinese version). English version published: 4 September 2026; revised 31 October 2026. Medically reviewed by Dr. Chao-An Chen, urologist.

Sources: US CDC, Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021 / Taiwan CDC and the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, guideline for syphilis and gonorrhoea in adults, 2025 / Taiwan CDC, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) / Taiwan CDC, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) / Taiwan CDC, anonymous counselling and screening / Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, for advice on HIV screening, hepatitis and travel vaccination.

This page provides general medical information and does not replace an individual diagnosis or treatment plan. Please confirm anything about your own symptoms or test results at a face-to-face consultation.