There was a “marked” increase in the number of cases of syphilis in 2021, new figures show. Data on sexually transmitted infections (STIs), published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), show that there were 7,506 diagnoses of infectious syphilis reported in 2021, an 8.4% increase compared to 2020 when there were 6,923 new cases.
But overall reported cases of STIs are still below pre-pandemic levels. In 2021, there were 311,604 diagnoses of new STIs in England, a similar number compared to 2020, and a decrease of 33.2% since 2019, according to the UKHSA report.
But the Terrance Higgins Trust said that STI and HIV testing rates are “still lagging behind pre-Covid levels”.