Quarterly Surveillance Report 1999 No.3:
STD Services Web Site: www.stdservices.on.net
Education and the provision of current material are
important in the control and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases
(STD). At STD Services education is used in several settings, one-to-one
for client information, general STD prevention seminars for student groups
and more formal structured discussions and lectures for undergraduates.
Verbal information is often augmented by pamphlets produced by the
service.
In 1995, the STD Services web site was established as an
extension of the education resources of Clinic 275, and in recognition of
the need to provide information that could be viewed privately and at any
time. Initially, the site existed on space donated by Camtech as part of
the East End On Line "virtual community", later it was moved to
the current address: stdservices.on.net. Expansion and upgrading of the
site in 1998 incorporated several new areas of content, a search engine,
new logos and colour schemes.
Information formats
The STD Services web site contains information formatted
either as HTML (web pages) or Adobe portable document format (pdf files).
HTML pages can be viewed on line using browser software such as Microsoft
Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator. The pdf files allow visitors with the necessary software
(Adobe Acrobat Reader version 3 or later) to view the files with page
layouts and formatting suitable for printing. The
Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free of charge from the internet -
easy to follow instructions are provided on the STD Services web site.
In this article, reference to material being
"downloaded" implies pdf documents as described above, which can
be printed using an Adobe Acrobat Reader. The printed layout will be the
same as that seen when the document is viewed within the Adobe Reader.
Site Content
The web site encompasses a number of topics related to
STD Services ranging from provision of guidelines for clinicians, public
health data, specific information for particular groups and links to
related sites. Also on the site are details of the role, function and
staff of STD Services, a client visit guide to Clinic 275 and information
for secondary and tertiary students. In the "Should I see a
doctor?" section users are assisted in deciding whether symptoms
being experienced may be attributable to STD. The content of the STD
Services education program for medical students is also in the site.
Figure 1 Home page of STD Services web site
Diagnosis and management guidelines
The Diagnosis and Management of STDs is published
regularly by STD Services. These guidelines on diagnosis and management
have been prepared on the basis of local experience, review of the
literature and consultation of the current recommendations of the United
States Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation.
As these guidelines were developed primarily for use by
Clinic 275 staff, they may not be appropriate in all clinical practice
settings, so some flexibility is required in applying them to some private
practice situations.
The early sections provide guidance to the practitioner
on risk assessment and appropriate testing, other sections provide concise
information on diagnosis and management of individual diseases. Checklists
on HIV testing and counselling, chlamydia, STD interview and points on
prevention have been provided for use as desktop reminders. A feature of
the web site not available in the printed version is the inclusion of
photographs of common presentations of many infections.
Publication on the web site allows STD Services to
highlight major changes in current treatments ahead of regular
publication, it also disseminates information to practitioners promptly
and free of charge.
For information and explanation, educational material
for patients can be viewed on the "Essential Facts" page for
each STD, this information is taken from a series of patient education
pamphlets produced by STD Services. If individuals wish to print the
information, the pamphlets can be downloaded (in pdf format) by following
instructions on the web site. The pamphlets cover a range of common
questions about STDs diagnosed in South Australia.
Publications and reports
Timely dissemination of information is a basic tenet of
good public health practice. The annual Epidemiologic and quarterly
Surveillance reports of STD Services provide data on the number of
infections, trends in disease and describe high risk exposures for
notifiable, sexually transmitted diseases in South Australia.
Additionally, other publications of STD Services are listed on the web
site and, where possible, linked to the original article. These cover a
range of STD material from the history of STD clinics to clinical articles
and new treatment regimes.
Information tailored to specific groups
Included in the STD Services web site is material of
particular interest to some groups within the community such as gay and
bisexual men, injecting drug users, hepatitis C antibody positive people
and teenagers.
Targeted pages outline the specific services offered by
Clinic 275 to members of these groups. They also provide explanations of
risk factors and infections commonly encountered by the groups, as well as
links to pages of information about pertinent infections.
Links to sexual health sites
The links to other sexual health sites on the world wide
web allow easy access to many sites where material extends and complements
the information found on stdservices.on.net, making the STD Services web
site a convenient gateway for STD-related matters. Classification of some
linked sites by area allows visitors to access sites in their own physical
locality where they may obtain relevant data and information.
Visits to the web site 1/1/99 - 30/9/99
Both Netscape Navigator (versions 3, 4 & 5) and
Microsoft Internet Explorer (versions 3, 4 & 5), can be used to view
the site and most visits are made using these browsers.
Statistics on use of the web site have been available
since relocation to a new server in July, 1998. The number of visits each
day ranged between 900 and 1000 during January to September, 1999 (Figure
2). In the period studied, the average length of time spent viewing the
site was over three minutes, with an average of five pages viewed per
visit.
Figure 2: Average daily visits to stdservices.on.net,
01/01/99 - 30/09/99. Number of visits by week of visit. Note: Data not
available for weeks 17 &18.
Between 1 January and 30 September 1999, 74521 visits
were made to the STD index page. After the home page, some of the most
commonly viewed pages on the site were Syphilis: Essential Facts,
Information for patients (18432 visits), Herpes: Essential Facts (12168),
and Warts: Essential Facts (7608). More than 9000 visits were made to the
pages with information targeted at particular groups (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Pages most frequently visited, 1/1/99 -
30/9/99.
Page visited by number of visits.
The majority of visits (88%) to stdservices.on.net
originated in the United States followed by Australia (5%). The combined
visits from Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia
accounted for a further six percent. Other visits were made from countries
as diverse as Croatia, Mexico and China.
Material downloaded frequently (more than 1000 times
each) included patient information pamphlets on pediculosis pubis,
syphilis, trichomonas, bacterial vaginosis, genital warts, and genital
herpes. Among material downloaded more than 500 times each were the
Diagnosis and Management of STD guidelines as well as pamphlets on
balanitis, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea.
Enquiries about the web site should be directed to the
STD Services web site administrator at the e-mail address: STD.Services at
health.sa.gov.au (Please
relace the word at with the @
symbol to email comments).
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