Potterat John J
Int J STD AIDS. 2007 May;18(5):293-6. doi: 10.1258/095646207780749592.
Public health agencies have insufficient resources to trace and refer to medical evaluation the sexual partners of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STI). Only a minority of such patients receives formal sex partner referral services. Hence this responsibility rests, by default, with the diagnosing clinician or with the infected patient. Unfortunately, clinicians do not sufficiently appreciate this public health lacuna, and patients with STI usually perform poorly at notifying partners. Clinician and patient obstacles to successful partner referral are discussed, and brief counselling techniques are suggested. Use of patient-delivered therapy, via medication or prescription (dispensed with appropriate warnings), probably serves to emphasize the urgency and importance of notifying partners. Successful referral to medical attention has been shown to help prevent re-infection of the index patient and to curtail community transmission.
公共卫生机构缺乏足够资源来追踪性传播感染（STI）患者的性伴侣并将其转介至医学评估。此类患者中只有少数能获得正式的性伴侣转介服务。因此，默认情况下，这一责任落在了诊断临床医生或受感染患者身上。不幸的是，临床医生并未充分认识到这一公共卫生漏洞，而STI患者在通知伴侣方面通常做得很差。本文讨论了临床医生和患者在成功转介伴侣方面存在的障碍，并提出了简短的咨询技巧。通过药物或处方（附带适当警告）使用患者自行给药疗法，可能有助于强调通知伴侣的紧迫性和重要性。已证明成功转介至医疗关注有助于预防索引患者再次感染并减少社区传播。
