Evaluation of clinical management of gonorrhoea using enhanced surveillance in South East Queensland.
BACKGROUND
Gonorrhoea is the second most common notifiable sexually transmissible infection (STI) in Queensland. Notifications have been increasing since 2002. Enhanced surveillance was undertaken in this study in order to evaluate clinical management and add to understanding of the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and in South East Queensland.


METHODS
Information on clinical management and an enhanced surveillance form were faxed to clinicians who notified gonorrhoea in the Brisbane Southside Population Health Unit area from 2003 to 2008. Ceftriaxone was recommended for treatment of gonorrhoea cases, as was simultaneous treatment for chlamydia, testing for other STIs and management of sexual contacts. Enhanced surveillance focussed on collecting more detailed epidemiological and clinical management information.


RESULTS
A total of 909 enhanced surveillance forms were returned (response rate 72.2%). The use of ceftriaxone increased significantly over the study period from 31.3% in 2003 to 68.4% in 2008 (P < 0.05). However, there remained a considerable proportion of cases that did not receive ceftriaxone (31.6% in 2008). Simultaneous treatment for chlamydia was reported for 70.5% of cases and did not increase over the study period. A high proportion of males were not screened for high risk co-infection such as HIV (49.6%) and syphilis (51.7%). Contact tracing was initiated for 76.5% of cases and did not increase during the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Continued education of clinicians on treatment guidelines is needed. Screening of other STIs such as HIV in males with gonorrhoea and increasing contact tracing were identified as aspects of clinical management for future improvement. Overall this study provides useful insights into the clinical management of gonorrhoea in South East Queensland.
Communicable Disease Branch, Queensland Health, Division of the Chief Health Officer, Fortitude Valley BC, Qld 4006, Australia. emmajfield@gmail.com
Emma
E
Field
Karen
K
Heel
Cheryn
C
Palmer
Hassan
H
Vally
Frank
F
Beard
Brad
B
McCall
D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D016358:Contact Tracing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents