FORCES NOOKIE PLAGUE

EPIDEMIC: 12,000 Brit troops have contracted STDs recently OUR armed forces are in the grip of an epidemic of STDs, we can reveal.

Almost 12,000 British troops have contracted a sexually transmitted disease in the last five years.

Figures obtained by the Daily Star Sunday show that more than 150 male and female troops caught untreatable gonorrhoea and syphilis – diseases which often lead to troops being medically discharged.

And in one regiment based in the north of England, one in ten soldiers was diagnosed with an STD after sleeping with the same group of local girls over a four- month period.

The situation within the barracks in Cheshire became so grave that posters were put up warning of the dangers of unprotected sex.

The figures released in a Freedom of Information request also show that at least 140 service personnel have been diagnosed with HIV – the potentially lethal virus which attacks the body’s immune system.

The Ministry of Defence has revealed that between January 2012 and May 2017, a total of 11,681 troops contracted an STD, 1,082 of which were female.

But the FOI also makes clear that the real figure could be higher because many military personnel would have had treatment at an NHS clinic.

The huge numbers of troops who have contracted an STD suggests that armed forces advertising campaigns and warnings by medics about unsafe sex appear to have failed.

The Army, which is composed of around 87,000 troops had the highest numbers of cases with 7,120 men and 711 women affected. There were also EXCLUSIVE PATRICK WILLIAMS 2,383 members of the Royal Navy and 1,912 RAF personnel who contracted STDs.

The most prevalent disease was Chlamydia, one of the world’s fastest growing STDs. It can lead to infertility in men and women.

The disease is particularly prevalent among people under the age of 25 and was featured in a storyline on the BBC soap EastEnders.

Chlamydia spreads quickly because symptoms may not emerge for several months after infection.

Overall in the armed forces 4,109 male and 581 female troops contracted Chlamydia during a five-year period.

There were also 1,467 personnel who contracted genital herpes, 2,267 with genital warts and 163 troops were diagnosed with hepatitis B and C.

A senior Army medic said: “STDs have always been a problem with troops but in this day and age we had hoped that the safe sex message was getting through. These figures are a real worry.

“We have an increasing number of troops from all three services testing positive for HIV and that is a careerending condition.

“We have troops with untreatable gonorrhoea and other STDs which can have a severe effect on a soldier’s health. Troops with serious STDs can’t deploy on operations or take part in arduous training.

“But these figures could be the tip of the iceberg. Many troops will go to NHS clinics if they believe they have an STD and that will not appear on their military medical records.”