Sexually Transmitted Disease Treatment Guidelines, 2015

It’s been over a month now since the CDC published its 2015 edition of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines. This 200 page document was the result of the collaboration and hard work of 100 experts in sexually transmitted diseases, and written by representatives from the CDC’s Division of STD prevention.

This document brings about important changes in the treatment of a variety sexually transmitted diseases, and physicians across the country are now taking on the important task of familiarizing themselves with these new protocols. Over time, these guidelines will change practices and treatment methods in medical settings ranging from the smallest clinics to the largest hospitals.

Important Changes

Some of the most talked about changes to the CDC’s guidelines included the following:

• New recommendations for the vaccine of the human papillomavirus
• Updated recommendations for the management of transgender patients
• Alternative forms of treatment for gonorrhea
• Changes to treatment of chlamydia in pregnant women
• Updated information about screening practices for chlamydia and gonorrhea
• New information about urethritis and cervicitis and the role of Mycoplasma genitalium
• Genital warts treatments, including alternative treatment options
• Information about diagnosing trichomoniasis through the use of nucleic acid amplification

These important changes are available and discussed at great length all over the Internet. The American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association called this text one of the “single most important documents that informs what we do in STD diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in the U.S.”

Some of these new guidelines represent a big departure from the CDC’s last full update in 2010, and practicing clinicians will need to work hard to commit these adjustments to memory and practice.

Online Resources

For more information, you can see the summary of the 2015 Treatment Guideline here. In addition, the full text was released by the CDC and is available on PubMed, a website of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Full copies of the text are available there for print.

It’s clear that this updated information will have a significant impact on men and women’s health into the future–or at the very least, until the next release of the updated guidelines. For more pertinent information about topics in women’s health and other news-worthy subjects, follow our blog or sign up for an upcoming OBGYN seminar.

We’re now taking registrations for our Columbus Comprehensive Review on September 19-26, and our Annual Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology in Kissimmee, FL, on October 12-16. Sign up today and attend an upcoming OBGYN seminar to stay up to date on all the latest information and news.