P20 Investigation into an increase of diagnoses of gonorrhoea in southend-on-sea

Abstract

Background/introduction Between 2012 and 2013 the rate of gonorrhoea in Southend increased significantly from 24.6 to 42.4 per 100,000. A multidisciplinary Incident Management Team was established in June 2014 to assess the situation and implement appropriate control measures. However, the number of cases had already begun to fall. A retrospective case review was initiated. Aim(s)/objectives To identify factors that contributed to the increase and subsequent decrease in diagnoses. Methods Enhanced questionnaires were completed for each case diagnosed between October 2012 and March 2014. Antibiotic resistance profiles were provided by the local laboratory. Previous STI and HIV test history was extracted from the Genitourinary Medicine Clinic Activity Dataset (GUMCADv2). Results Provisional results show that enhanced forms were completed for 160 cases. Majority of cases were of white ethnicity (64%) and born in the UK (87%). Cases were aged between 15 to 63 years (median 28 years), 62% were male and 60% heterosexual. Most cases had 1 or 2 partners in the preceding 3 months and attended because of symptoms (40%). However, approximately 30 cases had been referred from a level 2 service – some of which had negative results when re-tested. The majority of cases were treated with first line therapy and had a test of cure undertaken. Discussion/conclusion Full details of the epidemiology, presentation and diagnosis of the cases will be presented – including a comparison with the cases diagnosed before and after the increase, the use of social network techniques and an analysis against the auditable outcome measures in the BASHH guidelines.