Contact-tracing outcomes among male syphilis patients in Fulton County, Georgia, 2003.
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.
Samoff
Erika
E
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
Koumans
Emilia H
EH
Katkowsky
Steven
S
Shouse
R Luke
RL
Markowitz
Lauri E
LE
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*