Data shows large rise in sexually transmitted infections

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Some sexually transmitted infections are on the rise in Australia, prompting concerns among sexual health experts that current screening services aren't enough.

Transcript

00:00 In 2022, we saw that Chlamydia was the most commonly diagnosed STI with around 94,000

00:07 cases, followed by Gonorrhea with 33,000 and then Syphilis with just over 6,000 cases.

00:13 So for Syphilis, as you said, that's a tripling of rates in the last 10 years.

00:18 We see much higher rates among First Nations peoples, so two to five times higher, five

00:23 times higher rates in remote settings as well, again, suggesting that access is harder in

00:28 those areas, and among gay and bisexual men we see higher rates.

00:31 So of the Syphilis infections, 82% were among men, suggesting we see higher rates among

00:37 gay and bisexual men, and this increase is likely driven by the availability of highly

00:42 effective HIV prevention strategies, with men to reduction in condom use, but also increased

00:47 sexual mixing within that group, as well as an increase in comprehensive testing among

00:51 gay and bisexual men.

00:53 So Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, as well as Syphilis, can often be asymptomatic, particularly in

00:57 women, so people aren't necessarily getting tested because they're driven by symptoms,

01:01 so we really want to encourage people to have regular testing, asymptomatic testing as well,

01:07 because untreated they have really significant implications, so things like infertility in

01:11 women, congenital Syphilis in infants, which can be really damaging for the health of the

01:16 infants, even result in death, so it's really important to encourage people to be regularly

01:20 tested.

01:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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