Syphilis cases at a county six year high

SYPHILIS and gonorrhoea cases have hit a six year high in Leicestershire.

Across England, new cases of these two sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have jumped by a fifth in a year.

In Leicestershire, there were 228 new cases of gonorrhoea diagnosed in 2017, the highest number since at least 2012, up from 216 in 2016. New cases of syphilis increased from 23 to 36, again, a six year high.

Leicester is also seeing syphilis cases hit a six year high, with 28 cases in 2017. The area also saw a rise in gonorrhoea cases, up from 186 in 2016 to 205 in 2017.

Both Leicester and Leicestershire have seen a rise in new diagnoses of chlamydia, with a 3% rise in Leicester, up from 1,413 cases in 2016 to 1,460 in 2017, and a 4% rise to 2,328 in Leicestershire.

People in Leicester were 2.2 times more likely to be diagnosed with chlamydia than the England average, and those in Leicestershire were 1.8 times more likely.

Overall, there were 2,643 new STI diagnoses in Leicester in 2017, a 3% rise compared to the previous year, with 3,957 cases in Leicestershire, up 1% to a six year high.

Across England, in 2017, there were approximately 422,000 diagnoses of STIs, around the same number that was reported in 2016.