Acute STI Cases In Scotland Double In A Decade

A new report published by National Health Service (NHS) revealed that in just over a decade, there is a 110% increase in cases of sexually transmitted infections such as HIVdefine, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea in Scotland.

In year 2007, the total number of people suffering from acute sexually transmitted infections was 22,906, up from 10,919 in 1996.

The figures showed that there is an increase of seven per cent on 2006 when there were 21,461 cases. Syphilis cases were on the rise over the past decade from a low of eight in 1998 to 249 last year, and instances of gonorrhoea almost doubled to 864.

The number of chlamydia cases increased more than five-fold in the last 11 years, up from 1,770 in 1996 to 9,461 in 2007, while new HIVdefine cases almost tripled from 46 to 133.

The government statistics revealed that 4 out of five new cases of chlamydia in women past year were for girls in the ages of 15 to 24 years, while 71% of cases in men involved 20 to 34 year olds.

Apart from gay and bisexual men, binge drinking and drug abuse among young Scots were blamed for STIs. The health experts believe that the rise in syphilis cases is mainly due to gay men incorrectly assuming that certain sexual practices were safe.

The policy officer, Catherine Murphy of sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland, said, "It's good news more people are going to get checked and treated. But it means that many clinics are struggling under the increased workload.”

Adding further Murphy said, "Postal testing and better services in community settings like schools, leisure centres and youth groups help take pressure off clinics and reduce the stigma."

The Public health minister of Scotland, Shona Robison said that she was "disappointed” by the rising sexually transmitted infections cases and urged young generation to take more responsibility by taking advantage of testing and treatment available to protect their own sexual health.

She said, "As we see an all-time high in the number of older women getting breast screening, we want to create the same levels of awareness in young people about STI testing, treatment and prevention."

Sexually transmitted infections testing should be made more available in a wider range, admitted health campaign groups.

Another Government figures showed that more females above 50s are coming forward for breast screening. Nearly 166,000 women were screened for breast cancerdefine in the past recorded one year and 1,400 cases of cancer were detected.

A previous study, published online in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections found that the rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in people above 45 years has more than doubled in the last ten years; one reason cited is practicing unsafe sex.

In recent years, there has been a large surge in the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK. STIs are diseases that can be transmitted by unsafe sex and people of any age can be infected by it.

It’s not necessary that people with STI will have signs and symptoms of the condition; many times they don’t present any sign or symptoms but still have the disease. If a person does present with symptoms, these may include increased discharge, sores, blisters, warts, rashes, irritation or itching near the genitals or anus, pain during sex, pain on passing urine, or needing to pass urine more often or ulcers.

If left undetected or untreated, STIs may lead to serious complications in later years such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can damage the fallopian tubesdefine and cause pain, ectopic pregnancies and infertility. Men can also experience complications, such as inflammation in the testicles or prostate gland, and painful erections.

Chlamydia and gonorrhoea are caused by micro-organisms such as bacteria while genital herpesdefine, genital warts, HIV, hepatitis B are caused by viruses. These infections can be passed from one person to another during intimate physical contact. Oral sex, vaginal sex, non-penetrative genital contact and sharing of sex toys between partners can all transmit an infection.