title: Contact-tracing outcomes among male syphilis patients in Fulton County, Georgia, 2003.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Contact tracing may be less effective in populations with casual sex partners such as male syphilis patients who report sex with men; this opinion is widely held, but few quantitative comparisons are available.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to compare contact-tracing outcomes among male syphilis patients reporting sex with men (MSM) or with women only (MSWO).
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors conducted a record review of cases of early syphilis among MSM and MSWO comparing contact-tracing outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interviews of MSM case-patients resulted in higher mean numbers of contacts named and located per case than interviews of MSWO. Mean numbers of contacts of MSM and MSWO diagnosed with syphilis per case were not significantly different. The mean number of unlocatable sex partners per case was slightly higher for MSM than MSWO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study comparing contact tracing by the same trained health department personnel demonstrated that outcomes of contact tracing were similar for MSM and MSWO.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention, National Center for HIV, STDs, and Tuberculosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. erika.samoff@gmail.com
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Samoff
authors.forename: Emilia H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Koumans
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katkowsky
authors.forename: R Luke
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Shouse
authors.forename: Lauri E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Markowitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D020010:Heterosexuality; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*