Sexual diseases rise 20% in just one year

CASES of sexually transmitted diseases have soared to worrying levels not seen for decades, experts warned yesterday.

The numbers infected with syphilis and gonorrhoea leapt by more than 20 per cent last year – with casual dating apps blamed for fuelling the rise.

The increasingly popular apps encourage one-night stands but other factors behind the rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) include a lack of awareness of symptoms and lower use of condoms because of advances in treating HIV.

Cases of gonorrhoea – known historically as ‘the clap’ – soared by 22 per cent in England last year to 44,676, the highest for 35 years.

Cases of syphilis – once called ‘the pox’ – rose 20 per cent to 7,137, the highest since 1949 and up 148 per cent on ten years ago.

The steepest increase in syphilis, which can be passed from mother to child, was among women – up 29 per cent on 2016, compared with 19 per cent among men – although men still accounted for nearly 95 per cent of cases. Public Health England, which released the data, warned the rise in gonorrhoea is particularly concerning because a new antibiotic-resistant strain has emerged which is very difficult to treat.

Cases have tripled in a decade. The number of women who contracted the disease was up 25 per cent – compared with 21 per cent among men, who make up threequarters of all cases.

STIs were more common among 16 to 24-year- olds, gay men and ethnic minorities. Nearly fourfifths of all syphilis cases and just under half of gonorrhoea cases occurred in men who had sex with men. PHE said large increases in detection of these diseases in this group could be partly to do with better testing but were also linked to a rise in unprotected sex. It suggested men could be more likely to take risks due to the rise in popularity of smartphone apps enabling casual and group sex and a trend for using drugs during sex.

Campaigners said funding cuts to local government, which runs sexual health services, had also contributed to the increase. A BBC investigation found yesterday that almost half the councils in England which responded to a Freedom of Information request plan to cut spending on sexual health services in 2018-19.

Yet over the past five years, attendances at sexual health clinics have risen by 13 per cent, which local authorities said was putting a ‘significant strain’ on resources.

Despite the worrying rise in syphilis and gonorrhoea, the overall level of STIs reported remained stable at 420,000 cases. Thanks to the introduction of the HPV vaccine, the number of teenage girls with genital warts has dropped by 90 per cent since 2009.

There was also a decrease in chlamydia cases among under-25s, down 8 per cent last year.

Debbie Laycock, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said the number of STIs remained ‘worryingly high’. She said: ‘Our sexual health services are stretched too thinly and demand outweighs availability, with more cuts planned.

‘ The significant rise in both syphilis and gonorrhoea shows why further cuts... would be extremely damaging.’

‘Health services are stretched’