Did you know that if you test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea, you may be able to get extra medicine for your partners? Through a practice called patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT for short) or expedited partner therapy (EPT for short), your doctor can give you extra packages of medicine or an extra prescription that you can give to your partners who are unlikely to go see a doctor themselves.
Some things to know:
- Some (not all!) clinics in California participate in a PDPT Program-which means that all patients that come into their clinic and who test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea have the opportunity to take home medicine for their partners after they receive their own medicine.
- If your local clinic does not participate in this program, they still may be able to provide you with an extra prescription for medicine to treat your partner’s chlamydia or gonorrhea infection. You can also encourage them to check out this website and the California Department of Public Health’s guidelines. Tell them that getting your partners cured is just as important as getting cured yourself since you can easily get chlamydia or gonorrhea again if your partners are not cured. Plus PDPT is super safe and really good at making sure you don’t get the same STI again!
- You should first encourage all of your partners to visit a clinic to get tested and treated themselves. PDPT is only an option for those partners who are extremely unlikely or unable to visit a clinic.
- PDPT is legal in California for patients who are at least 12 years old. Check out this map to see if it is legal in your state.
Remember!
- Most people who get chlamydia and gonorrhea don’t have any signs or symptoms, so getting tested is super important!
- If you test positive for either chlamydia or gonorrhea, you need to take all of the medicine that the nurse or doctor provides you for it to work. Do not share your medicine with your partners.
- Many people who get chlamydia or gonorrhea get it again, so it’s important to get tested again 3 months after you were first infected.
- Find a clinic near you to get tested!
- Get free condoms!