Tuesday, April 1, 2025
4/1/2025
Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance Network (SSuN) - The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) requests $560,000 in federal funds under the cooperative agreement for the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Surveillance Network (SSuN) Cycle 5 for Strategy B, Strategy C5, and Strategy C6. The funds will be used to provide the human and technical resources necessary for the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of enhanced STI surveillance data for the city of Chicago (city population: 2.67 million), a major urban center with a diverse population in the Midwest United States, and a jurisdiction of high STD morbidity. These activities will build upon new and existing electronic information systems for the collection, integration, analysis, and reporting of surveillance data across variety of clinical settings in the project area. Personnel will ensure that data is shared with the different facilities and project areas to translate into broad public health action. CDPH will participate in the following collaborative activities: • Systematic collection of enhanced data elements for a full census of all reported cases of gonorrhea (GC) and syphilis • Enhanced investigations (i.e., provider investigations, patient interviews) of randomly sampled cases • Routine case-based matching with state HIV surveillance records. • Provision of technical assistance to state and local STI surveillance and program staff in monitoring and improving STI surveillance data quality • Enhancements to local surveillance data systems supporting collection of SSuN data for Strategy B • Implementing syphilis automated record search and review algorithm Anticipated outcomes under Strategy B: (Protocol-based enhanced STI case surveillance in defined geographic areas) and strategy C5 and strategy C6 include: • Improved, timely ascertainment of reported cases of gonorrhea and syphilis. • Improved ability to estimate patient demographic characteristics, behavioral risk, treatment, and access to preventive services through enhanced investigations on a representative sample of reported cases. • Improved, timely information on HIV co-infection, trends among diagnosed, reported GC & syphilis cases. • Improved, timely information on HIV and mpox-related preventive services delivered to persons diagnosed and reported with gonorrhea and/or syphilis. • Improved provider and community-level compliance with gonorrhea and syphilis treatment recommendations. • Improved ability to understand community-wide health equity issues across multiple demographic and behavioral groups through timely ascertainment and analyses of patient characteristics and outcomes. • Improved timeliness, data completeness and data quality through continuous quality assurance activities These resources will allow CDPH's Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau to integrate a syndemic approach to monitoring STIs, HIV, behavioral data, and preventive services accessed by persons presenting for care in sexual health settings, and persons diagnosed and reported with selected STIs from all provider settings in defined geographic areas. CDPH will monitor trends in patient characteristics, screening, and diagnoses to identify opportunities and gaps across the STI/HIV prevention continuum. Protocols will address information gaps in routine case reporting and incorporate local flexibility to respond to emergent health issues. Data obtained through this surveillance initiative are critical to understanding changing risk patterns, detecting emergent, re-emergent or novel infections and sequela, and informing both local and national STI/HIV control and prevention efforts. This funding will also seek to maximize the synergies offered through Ending the HIV Epidemic in the US (EHE) and to provide substantial integration with respect to surveillance activities in sexual health clinical settings to better characterize patient-level co-factors that may facilitate, or present barriers to, the uptake of prevention interventions such as HIV PrEP.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).