Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - January 30, 2009
Steve Schmadeke, sschmadeke@tribune.com
The online service, InSpot, allows Chicagoans with STDs, including HIV/AIDS, to avoid the awkward conversations with sexual partners they may have infected. They can send anonymous e-mail messages instead.
"This is an Internet tool . . . for persons who may not have any other way of contacting their partner or who may be hesitant to share their STD diagnosis," said Dr. Will Wong, medical director of the health department's STD/HIV/AIDS division.
"There's something I need to tell you," reads one e-card
The city has been using InSpot since 2006, and about 5,500 e-cards have been sent to more than 6,000 people, according to the Internet Sexuality Information Services, a California non-profit that set up the Web portal for the city.
About 3,500 notifications were sent last year, said Wong, but he still hopes to increase awareness of the service. There were more than 21,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in Chicago in 2006, according to the most recent data available from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
"The city paid about $10,000 to get the service up and running and pays a small yearly fee to maintain it, Wong said.
There are no clear indicators of how effective the service is, though Wong said there have been reports of people showing up at the city's five STD clinics with a printout of their e-mail.
Deb Levine, executive director of the California group, said about 50 percent of those who receive e-cards click links to information about testing and other resources.
"I think people take it seriously," she said.
Chicago is one of 11 cities in 10 states that use the service, Levine said.
Residents who receive an e-mail from InSpot may be concerned that it is unwanted spam, but the site continuously adjusts the e-card's subject line to stay ahead of spam filters.
The Frequently Asked Questions area addresses the concern that someone could send the e-mails as a joke.
The Web site (inspot.org) says, "We do not assume liability for use/misuse of the site by any individual," but "we urge anyone receiving these e-cards to use their own good judgment in seeking medical attention and urge anyone who is sexually active to be examined regularly for STDs."
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