Giving syphilis and gonorrhea to friends: using in-person friendship networks to find additional cases of gonorrhea and syphilis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Syphilis and gonorrhea reached an all-time high in 2018. The resurgence of syphilis and gonorrhea requires innovative methods of sexual contact tracing that encourage disclosure of same-sex sexual contacts that might otherwise be suppressed. Over 75% of Grindr mobile phone application users report seeking "friendship," so this study asked people diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea to identify their friends.

Methods

Patients at the two Baltimore sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics and the Baltimore City Health Department were asked 12 questions to elicit members of their friendship networks before eliciting sexual networks. The study included 353 index cases and 172 friendship contacts, yielding a friendship network of 331 non-isolates (n = 331) and sexu

SUBMITTER: Rosenbaum JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7575333 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature