Improvement of surveillance programs for sexually transmitted infections and related conditions

The present communication considers possibilities of how to improve surveillance programs for sexually transmitted infections and some conditions not yet included among the 'established' sexually transmitted infections. An extended list of sexually transmitted infection agents is proposed for monitoring and a syndrome-based surveillance program for what and when to screen pregnant women is discussed. Problems of how to deal with recurrences in chronic sexually transmitted infections are discussed. The value of concomitant surveillance programs, for clinicians and laboratories, is stressed. The importance of reporting the method(s) used to establish the diagnosis, as well as the circumstances under which the sampling was made, for example at screening, is also highlighted.