Sexually Transmitted Disease: Shadow on the Land, Revisited

Excerpt

Since Surgeon General Thomas Parran (1) began his campaign in the 1930s to wipe out syphilis-"the shadow on the land"-partner notification has been considered an important element of public health policy to control epidemic disease. Case finding through notification of partners was based on the common-sense notion that early intervention among persons who were often unaware that they might be infected could lead to the control of diseases like syphilis. Parran called for a "Wassermann dragnet": vigorous screening, reporting, contact tracing, and treatment to rid the nation of the scourge of sexually transmitted disease. When first proposed and implemented in