Rapid access to antibiotics stops sexually-transmitted diseases

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

If partners of those with a sexually-transmitted infection get immediate access to antibiotics, it reduces the spread of the disease.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia are both common infections transmitted through sex. They clear up with antibiotic treatment but without it, the infection is often passed back and forth between partners and maybe to others.

A ream at Johns Hopkins University now suggests that if only people with infected partners could be given antibiotics direct at the pharmacy the spread of these infections could be reduced. Tests showed that when this is done, the rate of re-infection with gonorrhea is 68 per cent less and with chlamydia 18 per cent less. But this approach would need a change in the law in most states. It's currently required that people have a medical exam before getting antibiotics. People infected should tell their partners about it and get them to see the doctor. But this just isn't happening. Which is maybe why rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia have become so high. Maybe it is time for a fresh approach to the problem.

Source
New England Journal of Medicine online 17th February 2005

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