Officials Hope To Combat Rising Cases Of Chlamydia

05:15

August 11, 2011

Public health professionals are responding to what they are calling an epidemic of a sexually transmitted disease. A new state policy allows doctors to prescribe medication to patients they have never met.

The number of reported cases of chlamydia has more than doubled in Massachusetts over the last decade — about 18,000 cases in 2009, up from 8,725 in 1999.

But a new program, called Expedited Partner Therapy allows the partner of a patient infected with chlamydia to receive antibiotics without seeing a doctor.

Guest:

Dr. Anita Barry, director of communicable disease control, Boston Public Health Commission

This segment aired on August 11, 2011.