Contact tracing
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| - | ('''STIs''') — also referred to as '''sexually transmissible diseases'''('''STDs'''), '''venereal diseases''' ('''VD'''), or infrequently, '''social disease''' — are [[disease]]s or [[infection]]s that have a significant probability of transmission between [[human]]s by means of [[sexual contact]], [[sexual intercourse|vaginal intercourse]], [[oral sex]], or [[anal sex]]. Some of the STIs can be also transmitted through birth, IV needles, or [[breastfeeding]]. | + | In [[epidemiology]], '''contact tracing''' is the identification and diagnosis of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person. For [[sexually transmitted disease]]s, this is generally limited to sexual partners but for highly virulent diseases such as [[Ebola]] and [[tuberculosis]], a thorough contact tracing would require information regarding casual contacts. |
| - | == History == | + | Some [[AIDS]] activists have argued that contact tracing is counter-productive in that it would lead persons to avoid seeking medical treatment for fear that it would breach their right to privacy. |
| - | Prior to the invention of modern medicines, sexually transmitted diseases were generally incurable, and treatment was limited to treating the symptoms of the disease. The first voluntary hospital for venereal diseases was founded in 1746 at [[London Lock Hospital]]. Treatment was not always voluntary: in the second half of the 19th century, the [[Contagious Diseases Act]] was used to arrest suspected prostitutes. | ||
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| - | The first effective treatment for a sexually transmitted disease was [[Arsphenamine|salvarsan]], a treatment for syphilis. With the discovery of [[antibiotic]]s, a large number of sexually transmitted diseases became easily curable, and this, combined with effective public health campaigns against STDs, led to a public perception during the 1960s and 1970s that they have ceased to be a serious medical threat. | ||
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| - | During this period, the importance of [[contact tracing]] in treating STIs was recognized. By tracing the sexual partners of infected individuals, testing them for infection, treating the infected and tracing their contacts in turn, STI clinics could be very effective at suppressing infections in the general population. | ||
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| - | In the 1980s, first [[genital herpes]] and then [[AIDS]] emerged into the public consciousness as sexually transmitted diseases that could not be cured by modern medicine. AIDS in particular has a long asymptomatic period—during which time [[HIV]] (the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS) can replicate and the disease can be transmitted to others—followed by a symptomatic period, which leads rapidly to death unless treated. Recognition that AIDS threatened a global [[pandemic]] led to public information campaigns and the development of treatments that allow AIDS to be managed by suppressing the replication of HIV for as long as possible. Contact tracing continues to be an important measure, even when diseases are incurable, as it helps to contain infection. | ||
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In epidemiology, contact tracing is the identification and diagnosis of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person. For sexually transmitted diseases, this is generally limited to sexual partners but for highly virulent diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis, a thorough contact tracing would require information regarding casual contacts.
Some AIDS activists have argued that contact tracing is counter-productive in that it would lead persons to avoid seeking medical treatment for fear that it would breach their right to privacy.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Contact tracing" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
