What are the main findings?
- There are growing diagnoses in chlamydia (35%), gonorrhoea (43%) and syphilis compared with pre-pandemic levels
- Some increases in diagnoses may be because of better access to testing at home, with a 47% increase in STI tests carried out in 2021. However, the positivity rate is still high
- There was also an increase in diagnoses made in genitourinary medicine clinics across all STI groupings.
Expert thought
Professor Sir Michael McBride, chief medical officer, said: ‘There are indicators of increased transmission, including increased positivity rates among online testers and similar trends in increasing STI diagnosis in Ireland and other parts of the UK… the Public Health Agency is working on the development of a mass media campaign to raise awareness.’
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