Ireland has seen a considerable surge in the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 2022 so far.
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV have all seen major jumps in the first seven months of the year, compared to this time 12 months ago.
March and June in particular saw a massive spike in cases, with over 120 cases of HIV recorded in June, while the stats for syphilis also rocketed last month.
Figures released by the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) for the week leading to July 16 also laid bare the facts.
In the seven days from July 10 to July 16:
- 214 cases of chlamydia were reported
- 93 cases of gonorrhoea were reported
- 54 cases of genital herpes were confirmed
- 21 cases of syphilis were reported
- 14 cases of HIV were recorded
All of the infections that are tracked by the HPSC have seen jumps from the start of 2021, which makes sense given the Covid-19 restrictions that were place at the time.
However, some of them are quite severe.
In total this year, the HSPC have been notified of:
4755 cases of chlamydia (a jump of 37% in twelve months)
1581 gonorrhoea cases (a whopping 62% increase)
850 cases of genital herpes (a 33.86% jump on the same period last year)
561 cases of syphilis (representing a 32% climb)
430 cases of HIV (a rise of 129.95%)
Locations
The majority of these cases have come in the eastern half of the country, with Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow (HSE East) responsible for just under half of the cases of chlamydia, over 1,000 of the gonorrhoea reports and 447 of the syphilis cases.
Ages
Shockingly, 17 STI cases have been reported to the HPSC in people aged 14 and under.
These are broken down as:
- 12 chlamydia cases
- Two cases of HIV
- One case each of gonorrhoea, genital herpes and syphilis
All data is available to read here.
READ NEXT:
