Don't let an STI ruin your Valentines Day

14 February 2011

Flowers, chocolates… STI? Regional HPA warns - Don’t let a sexually transmitted infection ruin your Valentines Day

Sexual health experts at the Health Protection Agency Yorkshire and the Humber are urging young people not to let a sexually transmitted infection (STI) ruin their Valentines Day this year.

The warning is issued as latest figures show that 15 to 24 year olds, particularly young women, continue to be the group most affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK. In Yorkshire and the Humber, there has been a sharp rise in cases of gonorrhoea over recent years, at a time when infections could becoming more difficult to treat.

Latest available figures show that a total of 42,410 new STI diagnoses were reported to the HPA from sexual health clinics across the Yorkshire and Humber region and from community based chlamydia testing in 2009. Whilst this is a 2% decrease on the 43,154 cases recorded the previous year, health professionals are warning that figures are still too high and that some groups are at more risk than others.

Dr Leena Inamdar, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control and Lead for Sexual Health at HPA Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "We know that the rise in STIs is partly due to unsafe sexual behaviour. These are all preventable infections and it is a cause of considerable concern that we are still seeing increases across Yorkshire and the Humber, especially the sharp regional rise in gonorrhoea cases, as we know drug resistance is emerging.

"We need to see a change in this trend so whilst romance is in the air this Valentines Day, remember that the safest way to protect yourself against an STI is to use a condom with new partners. Sexually active under 25 year olds should also be tested for chlamydia every year or when they change their partner."

Latest figures show that in Yorkshire and the Humber, 76% (397/ 521) of all new gonorrhoea diagnoses and 72% (2,709/ 3,779) of all new genital warts were in young women under the age of 25. Of all new chlamydia diagnoses within the region, 91% (12,159/ 13,302) were in women under 25 - although this is in part due to more sensitive tests and community based testing targeting the under 25's in England.

Dr Inamdar added: "The vulnerability of young women is very much a concern, with many studies showing that the UK's young adults are more likely to have unsafe sex and often they lack the skills and confidence to negotiate safer sex."

In men in Yorkshire and the Humber, over half of new STI diagnoses were in those aged under 25. They accounted for 48% (398/ 822) of new gonorrhoea diagnoses, 52% (2,242/ 4,272) of genital warts, and 75% (6,556/ 8,739) of new chlamydia diagnoses. High rates of STI diagnoses have also been found among men who have sex with men.

Nationally, the peak age for an STI in women is between 19 and 20 years and in men, between 20 and 23 years. Of all the 15-24 year olds diagnosed with an STI in 2009 around one in ten of these will become re-infected within a year - suggesting that teenagers are repeatedly putting their own, as well as others, long term health at risk.

Ends
Notes to Editors

Total number of STI diagnoses in genitourinary medicine clinics and community settings in Yorkshire and the Humber:

	2008	2009	% change
Chlamydia	21,921	22,498	3%
Gonorrhoea	1,289	1,400	6%
Syphilis	213	231	8%
Genital herpes	2,706	2,534	-6%
Genital warts	8,625	8,051	-7%

STI figures for 2010 will be published later in 2011 by the HPA.
For further information on the HPA's latest sexual health figures for 2009, go to:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1203348026613

Issued by Charlotte Farrar
Charlotte.farrar@hpa.org.uk
0113 284 0618
07810 684 104

Last reviewed: 5 April 2011