Alarm over 70% increase in cases of syphilis and gonorrhea among young Andalusians

Ministry of Health campaign against STIsMinistry of Health

Cases sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to rise, exponentially. The increase was 70% in 2023, a percentage that worries specialists and which, according to the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia, reached almost 82% in the first half of last year compared to 2022, and all this despite efforts to prevent and raise awareness on the part of Andalusian administration, as well as organizations and associations dedicated to this purpose.

This is an upward trend that has been confirmed in recent years due to relaxation when using condoms and the spread of other methods of contraception and even retroviruses, which are becoming increasingly popular among young people, to avoid what is considered the most dangerous infection: HIV. And also the introduction of drug use for sexual purposes – so-called “chemsex” – among other reasons. One fact: World Health Organization It is estimated that there will be more than 450 million cases of sexually transmitted infections worldwide this year alone.

One of the factors that should undoubtedly be taken into account when analyzing this scandalous increase in the incidence of STIs is, according to several experts consulted by Informativos Telecinco, that since 2016. more comprehensive control in infection monitoring, which can be verified by statistics. In fact, they have seen a huge spike in infection peaks during confinement months during a health emergency due to emergence of Covid 19 in our lives in 2020.

In Andalusia, an increase in the number of all STIs can be seen compared to 2022. increase in chlamydia 92.85% compared to the same period in 2022; for gonococcus 74.73%; with herpes 69.06%; with lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) 214.29% and an increase in the incidence of syphilis by 74.60%.

Gonorrhea It was the disease whose transmission had increased the most this century: at the start of this STI there had been a marked gradual decline since 1995, when the incidence rate had risen to 11.69; However, from this date, the incidence rate began a continuous increase, which has not stopped until today, with the exception of 2020, when it fell by four points compared to 2019. more than 23,000 cases, that is, the indicator is 49, while in 2001 level 2 was barely reached.

Another common infection today is syphilis, a disease that can be contracted through sex without a condom with an infected person through anal, vaginal or oral sex. Those who do this and even more than 50 sexually transmitted infections They also attribute their “heyday” to the feeling that this fear no longer exists from the 1990s to the onset of AIDS, which marked an entire generation.

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