Chlamydia cases this year are up 43 per cent on the same period last year, while gonorrhoea cases have almost doubled [1] (up 95 per cent), according to the latest figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) [2].
Young people aged 15 to 24, and gay and bisexual men, are most affected. The biggest increase in notifications was in women aged 20 to 24.
Over half of chlamydia cases and almost 40 per cent of gonorrhoea cases are in those aged 15 to 24. Similar trends are being observed in Northern Ireland.
“Young women are biologically more vulnerable in terms of catching bacterial STIs [3],” according to Prof Ina Park of University of California San Francisco’s school of medicine. “The cervix has a greater quantity of certain cell types that are targets for gonorrhoea/chlamydia in particular”.
“Men who have sex with men are also more likely to acquire STIs, due to higher rates of infections in their sexual networks and higher numbers of partners than men who only have sex with women.”