Every physician licensed under the provision of the Illinois Medical Practice Act is required to report to the health department within five days after they have diagnosed or treated each case of AIDS, HIV infections, syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. Through the sexually transmitted disease (STD) program our health department then does counseling, testing, referral and partner notification from these reports. The services provided through this program are confidential and organized to minimize physical, social, and/or economic barriers.

Staff in the STD department reinforces the counseling and education messages on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. These messages are designed to influence STD intervention and prevention behaviors. They interview infected clients and perform investigations to locate people who may be at risk for sexually transmitted disease and then refer them for examination, treatment, and/or HIV counseling.

Information is collected in a manner that ensures confidentiality, establishes rapport between the client and staff, ensures accurate definition of the problem, determines the level of risk for HIV, and leads to successful patient management. Quality counseling regarding treatment compliance, treatment failure, and follow-up examinations minimize the potential for disease transmission.

Breaking the chain of transmission is crucial to STD prevention. Further transmission and reinfection are prevented by referring sex partners for diagnosis and treatment. The referral targets not only those person who may have transmitted the infection, but also those who may have been exposed to the patient after acquiring the infection.