Patient-Reported Experiences Filling Expedited Partner Therapy Prescriptions for Chlamydia, Including Recommendations for Mitigating Encountered Obstacles, New York City, 2019 to 2020.

Background: Expedited partner therapy (EPT) is commonly provided by prescription. Multiple barriers to prescription-EPT have been described, although information on patient experiences with this practice is limited.

Methods: We conducted telephone interviews from July 2019 to January 2020, with women aged 15 to 24 years who were reported to the New York City Department of Health with chlamydia and for whom a health care provider report indicated provision of prescription-EPT (patients).

Effectiveness of Syphilis Partner Notification After Adjusting for Treatment Dates, 7 Jurisdictions.

Background: Disease intervention specialists (DIS) prevent syphilis by ensuring treatment for patients' sex partners through partner notification (PN). Different interpretations of how to measure partners treated due to DIS efforts complicates PN evaluation. We measured PN impact by counting partners treated for syphilis after DIS interviewed the patient.

Unnamed Partners From Syphilis Partner Services Interviews, 7 Jurisdictions.

Background: Reducing transmission depends on the percentage of infected partners treated; if many are missed, impact on transmission will be low. Traditional partner services metrics evaluate the number of partners found and treated. We estimated the proportion of partners of syphilis patients not locatable for intervention.

Frequency and Characteristics of Biological False-Positive Test Results for Syphilis Reported in Florida and New York City, USA, 2013 to 2017.

Discordant syphilis test results, with a reactive nontreponemal test and nonreactive treponemal test are usually considered biological false-positive test results (BFPs), which can be attributed to other conditions. Syphilis surveillance laws mandate laboratory reporting of reactive syphilis tests, which include many BFPs. We describe the frequency of BFPs, titer distributions, and titer increases from reported test results in Florida and New York City (NYC).

The Epidemiology of Syphilis in New York City: Historic Trends and the Current Outbreak Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, 2016.

Background: Male primary and secondary (P&S) and early latent syphilis cases have increased markedly in New York City (NYC) after a historic nadir in 1998. The majority of cases are among men who have sex with men (MSM). We describe the epidemiology of syphilis among NYC males to provide a model of how 1 jurisdiction collects, analyzes, interprets, uses, and disseminates local data to guide programmatic activities directed at syphilis control.

How Good Is Your Rule of Thumb? Validating Male-to-Female Case Ratio as a Proxy for Men Who Have Sex With Men Involvement in N. gonorrhoeae Incidence at the County Level.

Background: Lacking information on men who have sex with men (MSM) for most reported cases, sexually transmitted disease (STD) programs in the United States have used crude measures such as male-to-female case ratios (MFCR) as a rule of thumb to gauge MSM involvement at the local level, primarily with respect to syphilis cases in the past. Suitability of this measure for gonorrhea incidence has not previously been investigated.

Methods: A random sample of gonorrhea cases reported from January 2010 through June 2013 were interviewed in selected counties participating in the STD Surveillance Network to obtain gender of sex partners and history of transactional sex.

Patient-Reported Expedited Partner Therapy for Gonorrhea in the United States: Findings of the STD Surveillance Network 2010-2012.

Background: Expedited partner therapy (EPT) has been shown to prevent reinfection in persons with gonorrhea and to plausibly reduce incidence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends EPT as an option for treating sex partners of heterosexual patients. Few studies that examine how the reported use of this valuable intervention differs by patient and provider characteristics and by geography across multiple jurisdictions in the United States are currently available.

Sexually transmitted infection clinics as safety net providers: exploring the role of categorical sexually transmitted infection clinics in an era of health care reform.

Background: For many individuals, the implementation of the US Affordable Care Act will involve a transition from public to private health care venues for sexually transmitted infection (STI) care and prevention. To anticipate challenges primary care providers may face and to inform the future role of publicly funded STI clinics, it is useful to consider their current functions.

Methods: Data collected by 40 STI clinics that are a part of the Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Network were used to describe patient demographic and behavioral characteristics, STI diagnoses, and laboratory testing data in 2010 and 2011.

Neighborhoods at risk: estimating risk of higher Neisseria gonorrhoeae incidence among women at the census tract level.

Background: The association between area-based social factors and sexually transmitted diseases has been demonstrated in numerous studies. Such associations have not previously been explored for their potential to quantify likelihood of higher transmission of gonorrhea in small geographic areas.

Methods: Aggregate census tract-level sociodemographic factors in 4 domains (demographics, educational attainment, household income, and housing characteristics) were merged with female gonorrhea incidence data from 113 counties in 10 US states.

Population-based surveillance for neonatal herpes in New York City, April 2006-September 2010.

Background: Population-based data for neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection are needed to describe disease burden and to develop and evaluate prevention strategies.

Methods: From April 2006 to September 2010, routine population-based surveillance was conducted using mandated provider and laboratory reports of neonatal HSV diagnoses and test results for New York City resident infants aged ≤60 days. Case investigations, including provider interviews and review of infant and maternal medical charts and vital records, were performed.

The elephant never forgets; piloting a chlamydia and gonorrhea retesting reminder postcard in an STD clinic setting.

We examined the number and proportion of persons retesting and reinfected with Chlamydia and/or gonorrhea 3 to 4 months after initial infection in one New York City sexually transmitted disease clinic using a reminder postcard compared to clinics not using this reminder. Retesting increased; however, the proportion reinfected was lower during the intervention.