When a diagnosis of a treatable STD is considered likely, appropriate antibiotics should be administered even though there may be no clinical signs of infection and before laboratory test results are available. In most states, the local or state health department can assist in notifying the partners of patients with selected STDs, especially HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Breaking the chain of transmission is crucial to STD control. For treatable STDs, further transmission and reinfection can be prevented by referral of sex partners for diagnosis, treatment, and counseling. When a physician refers an infected person to a local or state health department, trained professionals may interview the patient to obtain names and locating information about all of his or her sex partners.
Every health department protects the privacy of patients in partner notification activities.
Because of the advantage of confidentiality, many patients prefer that public health officials notify partners. If a patient with HIV infection refuses to notify partners while continuing to place them at risk, the physician has an ethical and legal responsibility to inform persons that they are at risk of HIV infection. Although compelling ethical, theoretical, and public health reasons exist to undertake partner notification, the efficacy of partner notification as an STD prevention strategy is under evaluation, and its effectiveness may be disease-specific. Clinical guidelines for sex partner management and recommendations for partner notification for specific STDs are included for each STD addressed in this report. This site produced by the Journal of the American Medical Association through educational grants from Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical and Advanced Care Products.