Since 2016, the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases has increased by almost 200%.
Latest report on National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE), dependent on the Carlos III Institute of Health, shows that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are no longer a concern among young people and that there is clear relaxation of preventive measures.
At the end of January, RENAVE published a report for 2022, which included notifiable diseases: gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and lymphogranuloma venereum. Of these four, only 6897 cases, which is 200% more than in 2016.when we started collecting data.
gonorrhea explosion This is worrying. In the Andalusian community, the infection rate has decreased from from 8.63 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016 to 31.87 in 2022. Although the increase was progressive, the peak was recorded in 2022: the infection rate increased by 20 points over the year.
When syphilisThere was also an increase, but not as serious. In 2022, 1,480 cases were identified in Andalusia. The infection rate was 17.33 per 100,000 inhabitants, up 10 points from 2016.
Something similar happened with chlamydia, as with gonococcal disease. Of the 759 cases reported in 2016, 2,619 were reported in 2022.a year that also saw a peak, with infection rates 15 points higher than 2021.
The last of the mandatory diseases that RENAVE includes is lymphogranuloma venereum, which includes lymphomas of the genital area and is caused by serotypes of chlamydia bacteria. It’s still a minority, but it’s starting to show up. While only two cases were identified in 2016, in 2022 there were 77. Lymphogranuloma venereum began to be taken into account even before the pandemic. in 2019, which saw a huge surge with 33 cases reported, up from six in 2018. Since 2019, there have been about thirty cases of infection left, but in 2022 there was a “boom” and they reached 77.
Despite the numbers, Pompeyo Viciana, who was Head of the Infectious Diseases Department of the Virgen del Rocío Hospital, reduces anxiety. “When annual balance sheets are published there is always an increase, sexually transmitted diseases will always exist and we need to fight for it. safe sex“, points out this retired doctor.
Among the reasons, Viciano points out that “every time there is more open and unprotected sex“, especially among young men who have sex with other men. In this environment, Viciano emphasizes, “safe relationships are actively promoted, but the truth is that they are not practiced,” especially with the emergence of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), medications that reduce the likelihood become infected with HIV. “PrER protects against HIV but not other sexually transmitted diseases, so users of this treatment reviews will be made every three months,” this doctor adds.
Deserves special mention lymphogranuloma venereum, a recent STD that began to be identified in 2018 with serious difficulties. That year came wave of the epidemic in Andalusia after traveling through England, Holland, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona.. “Then men with pronounced prostates began to come for consultation, and we immediately realized that this was not a typical STD. There was no way to diagnose it, there was no knowledge. Tests have begun, experimental ones at that. Valme Hospital and then the Virgen del Rocío Hospital. In two centers in one year we identified about forty cases.
Viciano insists on the importance of early detection, since there have been cases of lymphogranuloma venereum that were complicated and led to perforation of the intestine and bladderwhen “with appropriate treatment it resolves in approximately 48 hours.”
In Group womenThe most common and most complex disease, the doctor explains, is STDs. chlamydiaas it can cause ectopic pregnancy, tubal blockage and infertility.
However, this expert insists on the importance of prevention as soon as possible to avoid further infection. “Open sex is increasing and people don’t want to use condoms, so it’s important that people who do have it do so. screening for STDs every three yearsalthough this is not accepted in Spain,” he laments.