Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 693 - CONTROL OF SEXUALLY TRANSMISSIBLE INFECTIONS CODE › Section 693.40 - Counseling and Partner Services

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Upon receipt of a reportable STI report from a health care
				professional or laboratory, a local health department, designated agent or the
				Department, as applicable, shall conduct a counseling session and offer partner
				services in accordance with guidelines established by the Centers for Disease
				Control and Prevention of the U.S. Public Health Service, Recommendations for
				Partner Services Programs for HIV Infection, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and
				Chlamydial Infection, as follows:
a)
			 Counseling and partner services shall be provided only by staff of a local
			 health department, designated agent or the Department, as applicable, who have
			 completed a Department-approved training, or a training approved by the local
			 health department in cities with a population of 1,000,000 or more.
b) Any person diagnosed with early syphilis
			 or HIV/AIDS by any health care professional, or any person diagnosed with
			 gonorrhea or chlamydia by a local health department or designated agent shall
			 be counseled and offered partner services by the local health department,
			 designated agent, or Department, as applicable. "Early syphilis" means primary,
			 secondary or early non-primary non-secondary (NPNS) syphilis of less than one
			 year's duration.
c) Any person
			 diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea by a health care professional other than
			 a local health department shall be counseled and offered partner services as
			 resources permit and within the discretion of the local health department,
			 designated agent or Department, as applicable.
d) Counseling of reportable STI cases and
			 partner services shall be conducted in a confidential manner, and shall be
			 documented either in electronic format or on forms furnished by the Department,
			 or by the local health department in cities with a population of 1,000,000 or
			 more.
e) All records regarding
			 counseling of reportable STI cases and partner services shall be confidential,
			 and shall at all times be maintained in the same manner as those maintained for
			 reported cases of STIs as required in Section
			 693.100 of this Part.
f) For reportable STI cases, counseling and
			 partner services shall be provided by the local health department, designated
			 agent or the Department, as applicable, and shall include the following:
1) An offer of assistance, with the consent
			 of the infected person, in locating and referring contacts for counseling,
			 testing and treatment, if indicated. All infected persons refusing assistance
			 shall be strongly encouraged to notify their critical period sex and
			 needle-sharing (HIV/AIDS) contacts of their possible exposure to STI, and to
			 refer these contacts for counseling, testing and treatment, if
			 indicated.
2) For each identified
			 contact, the counselor shall discuss with the infected person the time period
			 of exposure and the likelihood of STI transmission based on the type of sexual
			 or needle-sharing practice involved. Notification and referral shall be
			 provided to contacts for whom sufficient information to identify and notify the
			 person is available. When contacts can be linked to a website encounter, the
			 counselor will be authorized to implement an Internet Notification Protocol to
			 confer with and refer for clinical services contacts linked to an infected
			 person. Internet Partner Notification (IPN) services shall be provided only by
			 staff of a local health department, designated agent, or the Department, when
			 applicable, who have completed Department-approved IPN training, or IPN
			 training approved by the local health department in cities with a population of
			 1,000,000 or more.
3) Persons
			 choosing to self-refer their contacts shall receive intensive individualized
			 instruction and counseling in methods to provide this notification and
			 referral.
4) STI contacts
			 identified through the counseling and partner services process shall be
			 counseled confidentially regarding the possibility of infection and methods to
			 prevent the spread of infection, and shall be referred for testing and
			 treatment, if indicated.
5) For
			 STIs, if the person is legally unable to agree to counseling because of age or
			 legal incompetence, consent and participation in counseling shall be requested
			 of the individual's parent or legal guardian. If, in the professional judgment
			 of the counselor, the person is legally able to agree to, but appears to be
			 incapable of understanding and competently acting on, the counseling,
			 participation in counseling shall be requested of a parent or other person
			 chosen by the client.