Tracing a Syphilis Outbreak Through Cyberspace

Abstract

Partner notification and community awareness campaigns are the cornerstones of public health strategies to control syphilis in the United States.^1-4 Traditionally, health departments identify sexual partners through interviews with case patients and notify their partners by telephone, personal contact, or mail. Health departments have also been successful in modifying these techniques for situations in which partners are primarily anonymous. For example, partner notification has been accomplished by sending disease intervention specialists to bars, sex clubs, bathhouses, and other establishments to inform partners that they have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Other effective strategies for informing an at-risk community include posting notices in popular venues, talking to group leaders, and advertising in local community newspapers.