Sexually transmitted infections, especially gonorrhea and chlamydia, are on the rise in La Rioja.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are an important public health problem both in their scope and in their complications and consequences if not diagnosed and treated early. Throughout the world, there has been an increasing trend in the number of STIs in recent decades.

Available data from the World Health Organization’s STI Strategy Report, published in 2024, suggests that the 2030 targets are far from being achieved, with the trend of increasing rather than decreasing incidence of new STIs. The increase in STIs has also not stopped in our country, according to the report “Epidemiological Surveillance of Infections and Sexual Transmission in Spain, 2023”, which was published this Monday by the National Epidemiological Center of the Carlos III Institute of Health.

Incidence data in La Rioja

Chlamydia is one of the infections that has increased the most. If in 2016 in La Rioja there were 19 cases of the disease, with a rate of 6% per 100,000 inhabitants, then in 2022 this figure increased to 141 cases of infection and continued to grow thereafter. In 2022, 184 cases were reported, the rate increased to 57.09%.

In the case of gonococcal infection (gonorrhea), the increase was equally significant. In 2016, 28 cases were registered throughout the Autonomous Okrug, the rate was 8.92%. A few years later, in 2022, the number of cases rose to 141, and in 2023, 169 cases of infection were reported, with the rate increasing to 52.4%.

Another common STI is lymphogranuloma venereum. In fact, historically, no cases were reported until 2023, when 6 cases of this lymphatic disease were reported, representing a rate of 1.8%.

The only sexually transmitted infection that is declining in La Rioja is syphilis, an infection that has never been particularly serious. There were 15 cases reported in the population in 2016 and 7 in 2023, reducing the incidence rate from 4.7% to 2.17%.

The incidence has been increasing since 2000.

Since the early 2000s, there has been an increase in the incidence of sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, especially in young men, although age varies depending on the disease. Chlamydia, for example, is more common in people under 25 years of age, unlike lymphogranuloma venereum. The report also warns of the difficulty of comparing incidence rates between autonomous communities due to differences in their surveillance systems. Although all Autonomous Communities have individual case declarations, it is essential to improve the quality of the data, especially regarding the mode of transmission.

Between 2021 and 2023, gonococcal infections increased by 42.6% and syphilis by 24.1%, according to the report. The number of chlamydia increased by 20.7% annually between 2016 and 2023.

To combat the growing problem of STIs, Spain has launched the Plan for the Prevention and Control of HIV and STIs 2021-2030, which aims to eliminate these infections as a public health problem by 2030. The plan is based on a comprehensive approach that covers prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, chronic disease care and improving quality of life, while also addressing stigma and discrimination.

Under this plan, the Ministry of Health and SEIMC have joined forces to develop new guidelines for the management of STI cases. These guidelines will be presented at the conference “Challenges and opportunities in the fight against STIs”, which will take place in Valencia on 21 and 22 October 2024. This meeting will serve as a platform for analyzing the current situation with STIs in Russia. Spain, discuss screening models and promote innovative strategies to reverse the rising trend of these infections.