The need for testing for thrush in men can occur at any age. Candidiasis in the stronger sex is diagnosed less frequently than in women. To make sure that you need to be tested for thrush, the symptoms will help the man. Their appearance is unlikely to be ignored - they can cause too many problems.
Types of tests
To confirm the presence of Candida in the body, the patient is assigned a laboratory test. Material for research is usually taken from the urethra, and the method for determining pathogenic microflora itself may be different. Conditionally, the study is divided into two types: a general smear and tests for the determination of sexual infections.
What is the most commonly prescribed test for thrush for men? This is a general type of study, which involves the collection of the test material using a special probe from the urethra. This probe makes a smear on the glass, after which the glass is stained and examined under a microscope. The smear allows you to determine the number of leukocytes,various bacteria, fungi, protozoa, parasites. At the same time, such an analysis is not able to provide information about the type of pathogenic infection, since under a microscope, most representatives of the pathogenic flora look the same.
To get a more detailed result, spend:
- PCR study that allows you to identify the DNA of the Candida fungus and determine its quantitative load;
- bacteriological seeding - the resulting biomaterial is placed in a sterile nutrient medium, then the sensitivity of the pathogen to antimicrobial components is determined.
Each of the methods for detecting Candida has its own characteristics, so the doctor makes the choice in favor of one or another analysis. For reliability, several tests for thrush are prescribed at once. The man is told how to prepare for each of them. Depending on the type of pathogen detected in the laboratory, treatment is prescribed.
Normal indicators
Many are interested in the name of the analysis for thrush in men. It is worth noting that this laboratory study does not have a special name, but it is distinguished, as already noted, by the method of conducting.
Before you go to take a smear for Candida, you need to know that the presence of a microbe in the body is not a disease. Candida is a representative of the conditionally pathogenic flora, which normally does not cause any malfunctions in the functioning of internal organs and systems. The norm for the content of this fungus is 104 CFU / tamp. Whereinit would be wrong to consider the normal indicator as absolute, since sometimes the symptoms of candidiasis appear even with a significantly lower content of the fungus.
Thrush is a disease in which the amount of Candida fungi in the body is increased. Normally, this conditionally pathogenic microorganism is found in small quantities along with ureaplasma and mycoplasma in the urethra. It is impossible to determine exactly how much of it is considered pathogenic. This indicator is individual for each patient. However, experts take as the norm those values at which the majority did not experience any symptoms of thrush. A deviation from this indicator allows the diagnosis of candidiasis to be made.
Diagnosis of thrush
What tests to take for men if this disease is suspected, it can be difficult for patients without specialized education to figure it out. When it comes to a fungal infection, first of all, you need to remember that an acidic environment is the optimal environment for the reproduction of Candida, and the microbe itself oxidizes the areas around it, which leads to the rapid development of the disease.
Before testing for thrush, a man is asked if he has taken antibiotics for a long time before going to the doctor. Candidiasis is often a concomitant phenomenon in patients with diabetes mellitus, immunodeficiency. An analysis of thrush for men is sometimes prescribed to monitor a fungal infection and control the dynamics of recovery, the effectiveness of usedtherapy methods. To confirm the presence of a fungus in the body, the following types of studies are carried out:
- smear microscopy;
- detection of microbial DNA using the polymerase chain reaction method;
- determination of antibodies to Candida by enzyme immunoassay;
- bacterial culture to determine the type of antimycotic agents to which the fungus is sensitive.
How to do an analysis for thrush, a man will be told by the attending urologist. You can also ask the doctor about the timing of the readiness of the results of the study, but usually it takes from 5 to 7 days for a comprehensive study.
Candida albicans in men
The PCR method is considered the most objective and reliable method of research. The essence of the polymerase chain reaction of the method is to search for matches in a pair of artificially synthesized oligonucleotides. A molecule that repeats the structure of individual sections of its DNA is copied and, as soon as matches are found, the diagnosis is confirmed. The principle of the study does not allow you to lose sight of a single Candida cell, so the accuracy of this analysis is at least 99.9%.
PCR technique is most often prescribed for men suffering from chronic thrush, in which relapses are replaced by remissions. If one smear for testing for thrush in a man is not enough, in parallel, the patient is advised to donate blood for analysis.
It is worth noting that high accuracy is not only an advantage of PCR, but also the main disadvantage of this type of research. Even in he althyhuman PCR can show the presence of Candida in the body, even if it is not the fungus that is causing the illness.
Who is recommended for lab testing
Indication for the appointment of a smear for thrush is a specific symptomatology characteristic of thrush in men. A swab from the urethra is taken during a urological examination with obvious symptoms of a urethral infection or with hidden inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary tract. It is also recommended that patients be tested for thrush if the infection was detected in their partner.
Other indications for taking a urethral swab for latent infections may include the following symptoms and manifestations:
- discharge from the urethra;
- rezi when urinating, frequent urge;
- edema and hyperemia of the glans penis;
- reddish small rashes;
- constant itching in the groin area, scrotum, inside the urethra;
- presence of inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system;
- suspicion of gonorrhea, mycoplasmosis, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, etc.);
- infertility;
- preventive examination;
- presence of any sexually transmitted disease in the partner.
About preparing for the study
Before you go to be tested for thrush (in "Invitro" both men and women can undergo this type of study), you need to undergo a simple preparation:
- 3-4 hours before taking a smear from the urethra, you can not walkto the toilet.
- It is also advisable to refrain from sexual intercourse two days before visiting a doctor.
- On the eve of the procedure, do not take a shower, so as not to wash off opportunistic microorganisms from the surface of the urethral canal and not to disturb the true picture of the microflora. Otherwise, it will take 6-12 hours to restore the balance. Then a maximum of bacteria and fungi will accumulate in the urethra, which will allow you to take the material and conduct an objective study.
In addition, a few days before the test, you should stop taking antibiotics and antimycotics, do not drink alcohol.
How the procedure works
Before taking the biomaterial, the doctor will treat the surface of the head of the penis with a special disinfectant solution so that excess pathogenic microorganisms from the epidermis do not get into the smear. Material for research is removed from the urethra using a special urological probe, which is inserted into the urethra for several centimeters and rotated several times in place with intense but careful movements. Thus, the material is collected on the instrument, which, after extraction, is sent to the laboratory.
For general analysis, a smear is applied to glass, and for PCR or bacteriological culture, the probe is placed in a special sterile tube and only then transported to the laboratory. You should not come to the study if there was no opportunity to get training before.
How to do an analysis for thrush in men so that it does not hurt? According to reviews, taking a smear fromthe urethra brings not so much painful as unpleasant uncomfortable sensations. In this case, much depends on the experience and qualifications of the urologist, the quality of the probe used by him, as well as the inflammatory process in the urethra. For example, patients with urethritis experience more pain during testing than he althy men during a routine physical examination.
After analysis
Within a few days after the study, many patients report pain when urinating, burning, itching, and sometimes severe pain. This is a natural reaction of the inflamed and irritated mucosa of the urethra. Urine, getting into microscopic wounds, irritates the mucous membrane and causes discomfort. Some men try to limit their fluid intake in order to visit the toilet less often, but this tactic is completely wrong. The more concentrated the urine comes out, the more it irritates the urethra.
Transcript of results
So, how the analysis for thrush in men is given, there will be no questions. To find out whether candidiasis has been confirmed, whether any other disease has been detected, it is necessary to understand what the main indicators mean. Delivered to the laboratory, the swab is taken to the laboratory, where it is stained and carefully examined under a magnifying glass. The conclusions indicate the number of leukocytes, epithelial cells, the presence of coccal flora and other elements. For example, the following values are considered normal:
- white blood cells - no more than five per fieldvision;
- epithelial cells - five to ten;
- mucus – moderate amount;
- microflora - up to 10 units per field of view;
- Trichomonas and gonococci – should be absent.
If the smear showed that leukocytes and epithelium exceed the norm, there was more mucus and erythrocytes appeared, eosinophils, which, in principle, should not be in the urethral smear, conclude that inflammation is taking place. In the presence of Candida in an amount of more than 104 CFU / tamp, candidiasis is diagnosed. The overall result of the smear will have to wait 2-3 days.
In "Invitro" and "Helix" it is easiest for men to pass an analysis for thrush, since the branches of these laboratory clinics are within walking distance in almost most Russian cities. When examining the PCR method, the results will have to wait no more than two working days. If Candida is confirmed, test responses may be delayed to allow follow-up confirmatory tests.
What other infections can the PCR method show
A he althy male should not be found to have any DNA hidden pathogens. With a positive result of the study, the analysis is repeated and the quantitative load of the pathogenic flora is determined. Thus, it is important to identify not only thrush, but also to determine the amount of the fungus of the genus Candida. In addition to this microorganism, polymerase chain reaction helps to identify pathogens:
- chlamydia;
- gonococcal infection;
- Trichomonas;
- ureaplasmosis;
- mycoplasmosis;
- herpes simplex virus;
- human papillomavirus;
- cytomegalovirus.
Urinary smear tests allow specialists to identify hidden infections and draw up an effective and safe treatment plan. By itself, thrush is not a life-threatening disease, but it can cause a lot of problems for patients and provoke various complications. In addition, often candidiasis is not an independent disease, but develops against the background of existing sexually transmitted infections. In advanced cases, Candida fungus can affect the urethra, provoke phimosis and sexual dysfunction.
For men, taking material from the urethra is far from the most pleasant medical procedure, but it is a necessary part of a comprehensive diagnosis in order to detect sexually transmitted infections. Without a smear, the doctor will not be able to make a single diagnosis, including identifying thrush. And in order to have no doubt as a result of the study, it is necessary to do an analysis for the Candida fungus in a verified place.
Where to get tested
With an active sexual life and the absence of a permanent partner, a man needs to be examined at least once every six months. A man does not need to remember the name of the analysis for thrush, since the doctor will send for the study. You can pass it both in budgetary clinics and in private independent laboratories, among which the most reliable patients call the network Invitro, Helix, Hemotest,Litekh, Citylab.
To obtain the most reliable results, it is important to pay attention to preparing for the test. You can donate biomaterial to the above laboratories directly from home, leaving an application and waiting for the arrival of a specialist. Taking a urethral swab for thrush is not the most comfortable diagnostic procedure, but it is extremely important if an infection is suspected.
