Notifying partners of patients with early syphilis in Madagascar: case-finding effectiveness and public health implications.

Objective: To evaluate the case-finding effectiveness of a clinic-based partner notification effort for early syphilis in Madagascar.

Methods: We asked index cases who had proven early syphilis to identify and provide contact information of recent sex partners (in the past 3, 6, and 12 months for primary, secondary, and early latent syphilis, respectively). Named sex partners were contacted by index cases (patient notification) or, if approved by the index case, clinic staff members (provider notification); notified of their potential exposure to syphilis; and asked to come to the clinic for evaluation.