Sexually transmitted infection risk in England is greatest in gay men and young adults
Number of STI cases diagnosed in 2013 remain close to 2012 figures.
There were 446,253 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in England in 2013, according to new Public Health England (PHE) data out today: close to the number diagnosed in 2012 (448,775 cases).
Chlamydia was the most common STI, making up 47% of all diagnoses (208,755), while gonorrhoea diagnoses saw a large rise, up 15% from 2012 to 2013 (29,291).
Among heterosexuals diagnosed in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in 2013, young people (15 to 24 years) experienced the highest STI rates: 63% of chlamydia cases (56,034), 54% of genital warts (36,312), 42% of genital herpes (12,450) and 56% of gonorrhoea (8,122).
Gay men were also disproportionately affected, accounting for 81% of syphilis (2,393) and 63% of gonorrhoea (13,570) cases in male GUM clinic attendees. Gonorrhoea diagnoses rose 26% in this group, nearly double the national rate, which is of particular concern as harder to treat gonorrhoea strains emerge.
Dr Catherine Lowndes, consultant scientist in PHE’s STI surveillance team, said:
Sustained efforts to encourage people to regularly get checked for STIs means we are now finding and treating more infections, which is good news. Nevertheless these data show too many people are still getting STIs each year, especially young adults and gay men.
Investment in promoting good sexual health awareness, contraception and condom use, and STI testing is vital, as is ongoing investment in easy to access sexual health services that meet the needs of local populations. Not only will this help bring down STI rates but abortion rates and under 18 conceptions as well.
National guidance recommends local services routinely offer chlamydia screening to young adults but only 15% of young men and 35% of young women were tested in 2013. Wide variation across the country were seen in rates of chlamydia testing and diagnoses, with only around one-third of local authorities reaching the recommended chlamydia screening outcome (2,300 diagnoses per 100,000 young adults per year).
Dr Lowndes, PHE, continued:
Chlamydia can have serious consequences, including infertility, if it’s not treated. These data show we need to do more to encourage young adults to ask for testing every year when they attend health services.
Local areas can look at embedding screening into a variety of settings to make it as easy as possible for this group to get tested. Offering a young adult a chlamydia test opens the door to conversations about other important aspects of good sexual health, such as contraception and condom use.
Individuals can significantly reduce their risk of catching or passing on an STI by consistently and correctly using condoms until all partners have had a sexual health screen, by reducing the number of sexual partners, and by avoiding overlapping sexual relationships.
If in one of the highest risk groups, getting screened regularly will lead to early identification and treatment, as these infections are frequently asymptomatic:
- Sexually active under 25 year olds should be screened for chlamydia every year, and on change of sexual partner
- MSM should have an HIV/STI screen at least annually or every 3 months if having unprotected sex with new or casual partners
- Black African men and women should also have an HIV test and a regular HIV/STI screen if having unprotected sex with new or casual partners.
Ends
Notes to Editors
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Annual STI data compiled for England from genitourinary clinics, and from other community-based settings screening for chlamydia. Full 2013 STI dataset available. For chlamydia screening and diagnoses 2013 data, please visit the NCSP website.
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Young adults seeking information on chlamydia screening can visit a dedicated website. Sexual health information for men who have sex with men is available on the PHE website.
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Changes to PHE data collection methods in 2012 mean caution is required when comparing 2012 figures with data from previous years, including the total annual number of new STI diagnoses.
- In addition to unsafe sexual behaviour, other factors that have contributed to the rise in STI diagnoses over the last decade include:
- Increased chlamydia screening
- Increased use of more sensitive molecular diagnostic tests for genital herpes diagnosis
- Increased use of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) for gonorrhoea diagnosis (particularly for screening asymptomatic MSM at extra-genital sites)
- Improvements in sexual orientation reporting in recent years, leading to a greater number of diagnoses being assigned to MSM than previously
- Public Health England is a new executive agency of the Department of Health that took up its full responsibilities on 1 April 2013. PHE works with national and local government, industry and the NHS to protect and improve the nation’s health and support healthier choices and will be addressing inequalities by focusing on removing barriers to good health. To find out more visit our website www.gov.uk/phe or follow us on Twitter @PHE_uk.
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