Syphillis Outbreak Intervention

Introduction

A small cluster of people with Syphilis was first detected in the spring of 1996 by a nurse who staffs a part-time STD clinic in the suburban county named Rockdale, which is part of the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Syphilis was diagnosed in six white female adolescents (four were younger than 16 years of age), two white male adolescents (both 17 years of age), and two African American male adolescents (one was 16 years of age).

After customary interviews and investigation of infected and uninfected individuals, it was determined that the center of the outbreak was a group of white adolescent females. At various times, this group of females met to engage in illicit drug use and high risk sexual behavior with several groups of slightly older boys. The interactions between the adolescent males and group of adolescent females usually took place in the home of one of the girls whose parents were out for the evening. The group of girls partied with two groups of guys on a regular basis: one group consisted of well off white males 17 to 21 years of age and the other group consisted of African American males around the same age but less well off.

The estimated population of Rockdale County, Georgia is slightly over eighty thousand people (U.S. Census, 2000). Nearly fifty percent (35,266) of the population are female and forty-nine percent (34,845) are male (U.S. Census, 2000). Females and males between the ages of 10 and 14 represent 8.5% (5,939) of the population, and individual ages 15 to 19 represent 7.9% (5,553). Our population of concern is representative of 75.7%Caucasian (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). It is also important to note that African-American adolescent males are also included in our target population, even though only one African –American male was represented in the Rockdale interviews. African-Americans account for 18.2% (12,771) of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).

The household types are also important to note when...