[Ioannis]

Massive rise in sexually transmitted disease cases

By Lyndsay Moss

Health Correspondent

A SOARING number of people in Scotland – including children – are being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections, figures revealed yesterday.
Cases of gonorrhoea are up 13 per cent from 900 in 2006 to 1,015 last year – and have more than quadrupled from 469 cases reported in 1998.

Diagnoses of herpes are also up 18 per cent from 1,830 to 2,167 last year – almost three times the 784 cases seen ten years ago.

But cases of the most common infection – chlamydia – appear to be levelling off, with just two more cases reported last year compared with 2006.

However, there were worrying signs that more and more children are being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Campaigners said more needed to be done to improve sexual health education for young people and adults.

The Health Protection Scotland report, which looked at cases of herpes, gonorrhoea and chlamydia between 1998 and 2007, found people in their twenties were most likely to be diagnosed with an STI.

But cases in children under the age of 15 were also reported.

There were six cases of herpes in under-15s last year, up from four in 1998 but down from the eight cases seen in 2006.

There were also 60 cases of chlamydia reported in under-15s – up from 19 ten years ago.

But Health Protection Scotland said this was a small percentage of the 17,928 total number of cases seen last year – up from 4,916 in 1998.

Lesley Wallace, from Health Protection Scotland, said increased testing and greater awareness of STIs could help explain rising diagnoses. She also said that more people having unsafe sex may be contributing to the growing number of cases reported in the past decade.

"People are becoming more aware of these diseases and coming forward for testing under the schemes being rolled out.

"To tackle the rising numbers we need t
o make sure there is good access to sexual health services and increased awareness of the risks," Ms Wallace said.

Rebecca Findlay, from the FPA (Family Planning Association), said the increase in people coming forward for testing was helping identify cases of disease before they could spread further.

But she said more still needed to be done to make sure people knew the risks from unsafe sex.

"The problem is that sometimes people do not realise they are putting themselves at risk.

"For example, they do not realise that you can get herpes from oral sex," Ms Findlay said.

"Even when people do know the risks, they still fail to take precautions. They may know the dangers of unsafe sex but still not use a condom when they have sex with a new partner.

"We need better quality sex education for young people and more effective ways of getting the safe sex messages across."

Massive rise in sexually transmitted disease cases - Scotsman.com News