In recent years, an increase in cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has been observed in Spain and Europe. This increase is due not only to a rebound in cases, but also to increased diagnostic and testing efforts. According to public health experts, Greater availability of tests has allowed more cases to be identified, which may partly explain the increase.
Alvaro Mena, infectious disease doctor at the University Hospital da Coruna, indicates that over the past three years the number of tests carried out has increased noticeably, among which the number of cases among young people is noteworthy. This is a change in diagnostic trend, added more prominent attention to STI detectionsuggests that concern about these infections has increased, especially among younger sectors. “This is one of the things that worries us a little more,” the expert says.
One of the groups most affected by this recurrent infections occur in adolescents and young adultsespecially those who are in the early stages of their sexually active lives. This trend is of some concern because the onset of sexual activity may increase vulnerability to contracting sexually transmitted diseases if adequate precautions are not taken.
Major STIs
“The most common infections among the affected population include syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia“, says Mena. They are all bacterial infections that can be transmitted through unprotected sex. For its part, HIV is still present, but “sufficiently controlled in our autonomous community.” “In recent years, prevention programs such as prophylaxis or PrEP have been introduced, which have a beneficial effect on reducing the number of HIV infections,” says the expert. This drug is intended for people who have many or different sexual partners.
However, “PREP programs may lead to increased transmission of sexually transmitted infections”. “This treatment prevents infection and is very effective at preventing it. But what’s going on? Obviously, this relationship is unprotected or without a condom, in which case it protects you from HIV infection, but does not protect you from another type of HIV infection. sexually transmitted infections,” explains the doctor.
Cases in La Coruña
“HIV infection, for example, is a fairly stable phenomenon in our autonomous community. The number of new cases is decreasing slightly, although it is true that our health area is slightly higher than the rest of Galicia,” points out Alvaro Mena.
Regarding gonococcus (gonorrhea), in La Coruña it has increased by 30–40% compared to last year. “If last year we had 100, this year we will have 150,” he says. There was a recession in the year of Covid. “In 2019, we had less than half as many cases, but this also means that there were twice as many diagnoses, meaning we quadrupled the number of tests we carried out.”he insists. Given that a significant proportion of infections are asymptomatic, “if we screen more, diagnose more people, there will be more infections.”
A call for prevention
Expanded testing is a positive step towards early detection and treatment of STIs, and emphasizes the need to strengthen educational programs on prevention, especially among young people. “It is very important that a boy or girl of 16 or 17 years of age comes to this age knowing what the consequences of sexual transmission are, just as they know the consequences of tobacco and alcohol,” he recalls.
At the same time, Alvaro Mena calls for accepting educational measures in this regard: “I’m not a teacher and I don’t know how to approach this, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to approach this out of fear, and it’s inappropriate to not have this information.”
The combination of increased emphasis on screening and increasing numbers of cases suggests that sexual transmission remains a public health problem and further steps need to be taken to educate and protect people, especially the most vulnerable, from these infections.