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Sex Disease Cases Hit New High

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 November 2004, 03:00 CST

THE number of cases of sexually-transmitted infections in Scotland has hit a 22-year high.

Rates of chlamydia have soared by 39% over the past three years, leading to fears many victims could suffer serious health problems without realising it.

Health chiefs warn young Scots are risking infertility and cancer by having unprotected sex.

Other sexually-transmitted diseases are also on the increase after a lull in the late 1980s, leading to fears the most serious diseases, including HIV, could also continue to rise.

The latest figures from the NHS Information and Statistics Division show the number of people in Glasgow diagnosed with sexually- transmitted diseases remained stable at about 820 per 100,000, as the Scottish average rose to 688. The figures showed 4867 Scots were diagnosed with chlamydia in 2002-03, a 39% rise in the number of cases in 1999/2000.

The report says: "Some of this is related to increased awareness and wider application of laboratory tests, but there is also thought to be a genuine increase, mainly in the 15-24 age group."

The infection is a major concern because, while it often has no symptoms, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease which renders women unable to have children.

But more than a quarter of women and nearly 40% of all men exposed to the disease by a partner known to have the infection do not come forward for screening. Of those who do take a test, two out of five men and a third of women test positive for the infection.

john.mccann@ eveningtimes.co.uk

Source: Evening Times; Glasgow (UK)

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