CDC Offers New Guidance on STDs, Reflecting Higher Incidence and Treatment in the Primary Care Setting

Recognizing both an increase in incidence of sexually transmitted disease and patient preference for where they seek treatment for STDs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new set of guidelines on the subject. While previous guidelines, such as those put forth by the CDC in 2015, still reflect current thinking on treatment, the new set, dubbed Recommendations for Providing Quality Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Services, 2020, address a general approach to assessing patients who could have an STD and treating accordingly. One example: The guidelines recommend that providers consider sexual history and risk assessments standard parts of any comprehensive exam or annual physical, as opposed to considering the possible presence of STDs only in patients who present with symptoms or who express concern over a possible STD. JUCM has offered an urgent care-specific approach to STDs in an article entitled STDs: Assessment and Treatment in Urgent Care. You can read it here.