STI (or STD) are infections that can be contracted in various ways, but especial through sexual contact. They are caused by viruses, parasites, and bacteria and are, usually asymptomatic (have no STI symptoms to make the infected person worry about their health).
It is important to prevent STI and once a person is infected, seeing a physician for examination and treatment is necessary. More than that, an infected person should also know that his or her partner might be infected as well and should be also treated. If not, they will end up with a re-infection.
The classical method of preventing STI extension is to ask the infected people notify their partners about the disease, send them to the doctor to be examined, and then treat them, if necessarily.
An alternative strategy nowadays is called EPT (expedited partner therapy) and means prescribing medication to the infected person to take to his partner without examination. This method is approved by g the American Medical Association (AMA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
EPT is used especially when treating chlamydia and gonorrhea. These diseases are usually asymptomatic, but if they are left untreated they can lead to serious health problems.
Here are some of the benefits of an EPT method:
Effectiveness
Research show that this method is really effective, as it reduces the risk of persistent or recurrent bacterial STIs.
Reduces Re-infection
Many times, if the partner isn’t treated an infected person who was treated and healed can get infected again from his partner, twelve months after. EPD really reduces this risk as the partner is also treated.
Cost-effective STI Treatment
It is estimated that, for treating chlamydia and gonorrhea, $850 million are spent every year. If not treated, these diseases can progress to PID in women. And treating it cost a lot of money. So by preventing SDI with the EPD method, you will also reduce the costs of the STI treatment.
NO Adverse Reports
The EPD treatment is applied in many states with no adverse reports. So this is a safe method that will help the infected people and their partners. However, there are still concerns regarding the possibility of allergic reaction. That’s why medication should have a detailed prospect.
Legality and administrative issues
Legally speaking, EPT method is approved and can be used across 50 states. On the other hand, many doctors and pharmacists are uncertain about this and still have misconceptions.
Our current medical system does not provide a protocol for EPT programs. Recording the documentation and the medication receipt for unseen patients it is a real challenge for doctors.
EPT method certainly has important benefits and seems to reduce the cases of infected people. But it still needs major improvement in order to overcome the founded concerns physicians still have
One of their major concerns regarding EPT is that patients are missing the opportunities of being evaluated and educated right. But do we have the guarantee that this person would come to be evaluated if EPT wouldn’t be implemented? Well, we think not, because of the asymptomatic nature of STIs. But we agree that more studies are needed to be made to analyze the EPT’s long-term benefits and effectiveness.
Florin A. is a Digital Advertising professional and article writer who likes to research the modern trends in business, technology and marketing communications and writes about a range of articles.