RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 It’s Time to Expand Chlamydia Treatment for Gay and Bisexual Men
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 168
OP 170
DO 10.1370/afm.2624
VO 19
IS 2
A1 Braun, Hannan M.
A1 Taylor, Jessica L.
YR 2021
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/19/2/168.abstract
AB Expedited partner therapy involves prescribing sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment for a patient’s partner(s) without seeing the partner. It is approved for heterosexual partners of patients with chlamydia in most states. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against expedited partner therapy in men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), citing limited data in this population and concerns that expedited partner therapy could discourage comprehensive STI testing, thereby driving increased HIV transmission. In this piece, we describe the case of a 33-year-old gay man on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) whose cycle of chlamydia reinfection might have been prevented by expedited partner therapy. His case highlights how new HIV prevention strategies—including PrEP and Treatment as Prevention—challenge the assumption that all MSM with chlamydia are at risk for HIV. Until more data on expedited partner therapy in MSM are available, clinicians should incorporate characteristics of patients’ sexual networks in weighing the risks and benefits of expedited partner therapy.