Gonorrhoea enhanced surveillance for indigenous status and risk factors in the south-eastern Sydney population

Authors

  • Mark J Ferson Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Randwick, NSW, Australia; School of Public Health & Community Medicine, University of NSW, Kensington, NSW, Australia
  • Kelly-Anne Ressler Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Randwick, NSW, Australia
  • Alma Nurkic Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Randwick, NSW, Australia
  • Paula J Spokes Communicable Diseases Branch, Health Protection NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2019.43.23

Keywords:

Gonorrhoea, enhanced surveillance, indigenous status, risk factors, evaluation, men who have sex with men, sex workers

Abstract

Background: Gonorrhoea incidence is increasing in the Australian population. As a laboratory notifiable disease in NSW, information is not routinely available on indigenous status, sexual preference or other risk factors for infection. We conducted a 12-month pilot of enhanced surveillance in south-eastern Sydney in order to assess the feasibility of gathering this additional information.
Methods: For each notification in a south-eastern Sydney resident with a 2013 specimen date, we sent a letter and questionnaire to the requesting doctor seeking additional demographic and risk factor information.
Results: Of 1,341 questionnaires sent, 1,073 (79.5%) were returned, and men comprised 947 (88.3%). Indigenous status was provided for 1,009 (94.1%) cases, with seven (0.7%) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Most men (83%) but a minority of women (19%) had same sex partners (p<0.001). Whilst 70% of men reported acquisition from a casual partner, only 46% of women thought they had acquired infection from a casual partner.
Conclusions: The high response rate and completeness of indigenous status were strong features of this enhanced surveillance pilot which also provided valuable information on sexual preference and other risk factors for infection. However, gathering of this information was very labour intensive for both clinical and public health staff.

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Published

17/06/19

How to Cite

Ferson, Mark J, Kelly-Anne Ressler, Alma Nurkic, and Paula J Spokes. 2019. “Gonorrhoea Enhanced Surveillance for Indigenous Status and Risk Factors in the South-Eastern Sydney Population”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 43 (June). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2019.43.23.

Issue

Vol. 43 (2019)

Section

Original article

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