Sexually Transmitted Disease

Programs Available

Comprehensive STD Prevention System (CSPS)

What is CSPS?

The Comprehensive STD Prevention Systems (CSPS) is a grant intended to achieve the mission of the Division of Public Health, STD section; reducing morbidity associated with sexually transmitted diseases in the state of Georgia, thereby preventing STDs and their complications. The activities implemented in carrying out these program components support the achievement of many STD-related Healthy People 2020 objectives, specifically, (1) reduction of adolescents and young adults with Chlamydia trachomatis infection, (2) reduction of Gonorrhea, and (3) elimination of sustained domestic transmission of primary and secondary syphilis. The results will be achieved by directing coordinated, comprehensive statewide STD prevention, screening, and treatment services through surveillance of sexually transmitted diseases and planning, training, monitoring, and evaluation of services in both the public and private sectors. CSPS is guided through surveillance data and supported by CDC Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention.

Grant Goals
  1. Community and Individual Behavior Change Interventions
    • Awareness and behavior Change Strategies
    • Networks with behavior change intervention experts
  2. Medical and Laboratory Services
    • Access to care collaboration
    • Clinical Services and Standard of Care
    • Screening and Counseling
    • State Lab Results and Adherence
    • Laboratory Reporting Requirements
  3. Partner Services
    • Notification, Medical attention, and Referrals
    • Risk Reduction Plans
    • Identification of At-Risk Communities
    • STD/HIV Partner Service Coordination
  4. Leadership and Program Management
    • Vision
    • Implementation
    • National and Local Guidelines
    • Strategies and Operational Planning
    • Community Partner Involvement
  5. Surveillance and Data Management
    • Data and Information Systems
    • Detection of Changes and At-Risk Populations and Feedback
  6. Training and Professional Development
    • Training Needs Assessment
    • Development and Utilization of Training Resources
    • Professional Development
    • Training of External Partners (Non-Public Health Professionals)
    • Technical Assistance
  7. STD Outbreak Response Plan

STD-Related Infertility Prevention Project (IPP)

What is IPP?
Infertility prevention focuses on reducing the prevalence of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea infections in Georgia. Through education, screening, and treatment the goal is to promote statewide awareness of and access to Chlamydia and Gonorrhea education and reduce associated complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, infertility, ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube) in females, and epididymitis in males.
Target Population
In health departments and other family planning clinics, primary care settings, and teen and STD clinics:
  • Screen all females ages 29 and under receiving routine pelvic exams for Chlamydia Trachomatis (CT) and Gonorrhea (GC)
  • Test females of all ages with clinical signs and symptoms of CT and/or GC
  • Test all patients who have a new sex partner or multiple sex partners in the past 60 days
  • Screen all males who present for any STD services for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea
  • Treat all males and females who test positive for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea
  • Provide partner notification/treatment services for persons who test positive for CT and/or GC
Facts
  • Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STD.
  • Georgia has the seventh highest rate for Chlamydial infections in the United States.
  • 75% of women infected with CT do not have symptoms.
  • 50% of men infected with CT do not have symptoms.
  • The damage from pelvic inflammatory diseases (PID) can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy.
  • Women with CT are up to 5 times more likely to be infected with HIV if exposed.
  • In pregnant women, CT can cause pre-mature birth as well as respiratory problems in the newborn.

Georgia Syphilis Elimination Effort (SEE)

What is SEE?
In 1998, the reported rate of infectious Syphilis in the United States was at the lowest point ever recorded. To take advantage of this unique opportunity, in October 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a national initiative to eliminate Syphilis from the United States. The 1998 STD Surveillance Report from CDC listed 28 counties that accounted for over 50% of the total infectious Syphilis cases in the United States. Georgia ranked in the top ten in the nation in new infectious syphilis cases. In response to the National Syphilis Elimination Plan, Georgia's Syphilis Elimination Effort was established in 1998 to develop strategies to ensure the successful reduction of syphilis with in the state. Currently, Georgia is in the process of revamping this project.
Project Goals
  1. Develop and implement a state level SEE
  2. Enhance Surveillance and Outbreak Response
    • Complete an evaluation of the current Syphilis surveillance systems utilized in the high morbidity areas of Fulton, DeKalb Counties, other metro areas and districts.
    • Implement recommendations to enhance the Surveillance systems and increase the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of reporting.g.
    • Assess local social, behavioral and institutional factors related to the persistence of Syphilis within the high morbidity areas of Fulton, DeKalb Counties, other metro areas and health districts of Georgia.
    • Establish Outbreak Response Teams.s.
  3. Strengthen Community Involvement and Organizational Partnerships
  4. Identify non-governmental, community based, health and non-health agencies and institutions, and members of the faith community to participate in the development of a Syphilis Elimination Plan.
  5. Convene local Syphilis elimination coalitions comprised of representatives from affected communities and key organizations.
  6. Sponsor Syphilis elimination workshops to provide health education, communication materials, lectures and program information to institutions and individuals.
  7. Improved Biomedical and Behavioral Intervention
    • Conduct a community needs assessment to identify behavioral prevention and intervention needs of individuals at high risk of contracting Syphilis, assess the availability and accessibility of services offered by providers, document available resources, and identify communication and service delivery gaps and barriers for interventions.
    • Develop, design, implement and evaluate a Health Communications Plan, which sets up and coordinates the steps to use health communication strategies.
Facts
  • Georgiahas the third highest rate for primary and secondary syphilis infection in the United States.
  • The primary and secondary syphilis rates have steadily increased over the past five years.
  • Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA Metropolitian area ranked fifth in the county for reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis..
  • The South accounted for 44.1% of P&S syphilis cases in 2011 and 45.5% in 2010.
  • Syphilis cases are concentrated in a small number of geographic areas in the US.
  • Untreated early syphilis in pregnant women results in perinatal death in up to 40% of cases, and if acquired during the 4 years preceding pregnancy, may lead to infection of the fetus in over 70% of cases. The congenital syphilis rate for African American infants is 56 times higher than that for white infants.

Gonorrhea Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP)

What is GISP?
GISP was established in 1986 as a collaborative project between selected sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinics, five regional laboratories (including the Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Decatur, Georgia), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mission of GISP is to monitor trends in antimicrobial susceptibilities of strains of N. gonorrhoeae in the United States in order to establish a rational basis for the selection of gonococcal therapies.
Target Population
N. gonorrhoeae isolates are collected from the first 25 men with urethral gonorrhea attending STD clinics each month in approximately 28 cities in the United States.
Facts
  • Georgia has the sixth highest rate for gonorrheal infection in the United States.
  • In 2011, a total of 321,849 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the United States, yielding a rate of 104.2 cases per 100,000 population. The rate increased 4.0% since 2010;however, the rate decreased 11.7% overall during 2007–2011.
  • In women, gonorrhea is a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and about one million women each year in the United States develop PID.