Developing Guidance for Detecting Syphilis Outbreaks

Key Objectives:
The objective of this roundtable is to give participants an opportunity to review a draft guidance document and give feedback prior to dissemination.

Brief Summary:
Sexually transmitted diseases are the most commonly reported diseases in the United States.  While it is recognized that outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases, especially syphilis, do occur, there is no standardized method for detecting outbreaks of STDs.  Based on feedback to the CSTE STD subcommittee, a work group was formed to develop guidance on STD outbreak detection with a focus on syphilis.  A guidance document has been developed which gives general principles for analysis of surveillance data, parameters for defining an outbreak and tools for performing analyses to understand the data and recognize potential outbreaks in a timely manner.