Article Options

Local health officials agree with new bill aimed at curbing STD spread

BY BECKY MALKOVICH, The Southern

Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:47 AM CST

A state Senate bill making its way through the legislative process aims to speed up treatment and slow down the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Senate Bill 2150 would allow, but not mandate, health care providers to use Expedited Partner Therapy, which would permit doctors to give antibiotics to the partners of people who have been newly diagnosed with STDs such as Chlamydia or gonorrhea.

The therapy is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one way to slow the spread of STDs.

According to literature provided by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, half of the partners of patients with STDs get no treatment for their infections and are likely to transmit the infection to others. In addition, three-quarters of women and half of men infected by Chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms of infection.

Individuals with active STDs are three to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, according to foundation literature.

The issue is especially important in rural areas of the state where some counties have higher rates of STD infection than the statewide average.

“Jackson County Chlamydia rates have gone up fairly consistently,” Kathy O’Laughlin of the county’s Department of Public Health said.

She said people most at risk for STD infection range in age from 16 to 26 and because Jackson County has a high student population, the rates can be expected to be higher than average.

“Any county with a university is going to have a higher rate,” she said.

The EPT legislation would help with treatment of STDs, she said, not only because some people show no symptoms, but also because people sometimes fail to share a diagnosis with their partners.

“It’s crucial to let partners know so they can get treatment and not spread the disease to anyone else,” she said. “EPT would make it faster and easier to get treatment. It would be a valuable tool to help us reach those partners more effectively. It wouldn’t cure all the problems, but it would help.”