Social media used to fight ‘trending’ gonorrhoea

Social media is being used to inform young people about the rapid rise of gonorrhoea, and its dangers.

HSE data shows rates of the sexually-transmitted infection (STI) have more than doubled between 2009 and 2012, but most of the increase has been down to a surge in cases among men and women in their 20s.

The more than 1,100 cases notified to the HSE last year marked a record high, and the rate per population is almost double the European average, while 55% of cases concerned people aged 20 to 29. The numbers are heading for 1,300 by the end of 2013, with 1,189 cases reported up to the end of November, the last week of which saw 32 new cases.

#OMGsti Help get #Gonorrhoea prevention messages trending, Read more: http://t.co/7QySFiKsJ3 pic.twitter.com/Wx8lwj2SoO

— Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (@amle_ie) December 9, 2013

The figures have rallied youth organisations and other groups into a joint effort that will see tongue-in-cheek messages highlight the issue, and direct young people to websites showing symptoms and how to get help.

“OMG: Gonorrhoea.... It’s Trending... but not on Twitter” reads one of the short slogans on Facebook, Twitter (#OMGsti) and other sites. The associated messages highlight the importance of condoms in preventing STIs, and give information on testing and treatment services in a campaign funded by the HSE.

OMG…Gonorrhoea is trending! But not on Twitter #OMGsti@SpunOut,@thinkjohnny,@DubAIDSAlliance @JustCarryOne @HSElive pic.twitter.com/DAwXt4qSQJ

— Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (@amle_ie) December 9, 2013

“Our ability to test for gonorrhoea has improved in recent years, and more sensitive tests and more numbers attending for screening may account for some of the increase,” said HSE public health specialist Dr Fionnuala Cooney.

“However, we know that unsafe sexual behaviour is a significant driver of the increase of gonorrhoea and other STIs.”

The disease’s rise has prompted the HSE to set up an outbreak control team, as reported last month in the Irish Examiner. Its work involves a campaign by Dublin Aids Alliance, Union of Students in Ireland (USI), SpunOut.ie, the HSE crisis pregnancy programme, and Think Contraception.

#Gonorrhoea... Hard to spell, easy to catch! #OMGsti Get tested & always use condoms pic.twitter.com/dJfLUf5LGq

— Denise McCarthy (@DeniseMcCarthyx) December 9, 2013

Serious health problems can result from gonorrhoea, including infertility in both sexes. While men accounted for 80% of the 1,108 cases notified last year, around half of women with urogenital gonorrhoea (five times the rate among men) may not be aware of having the infection as they have no symptoms.

The rate of gonorrhoea and its rise is highest in the HSE-east region (Dublin, Kildare, and Wicklow), but it is also rapidly increasing in the Mid-West, West, and Southern regions.

USI deputy president Denise McCarthy said preventative steps include having accurate and reliable information on STIs, and always using a condom, including during oral sex.

Dublin Aids Alliance prevention, education, and training co-ordinator Susan Donlon said the campaign’s Your Sexual Health website includes local clinics providing free STI testing.

Chlamydia is the most-commonly identified STI and, though cases fell slightly between 2011 and 2012 to less than 6,200, per-population rates of the infection are more than double what they were a decade ago, and have almost trebled in the same period among people aged 20 to 29.

* www.yoursexualhealth.ie, www.thinkcontraception.ie, www.dublinaidsalliance.ie

STI Infections in 2012:

- Chlamydia: 6,162 (-4% since 2011).

- Ano-genital warts: 1,981 (-24%).

- Non-specific urethritis: 1,539 (-4%).

- Herpes simplex (genital): 1,326 (+5%).

- Gonorrhoea: 1,108 (+33%).

- Syphilis: 518 (-21%).

- Trichomoniasis: 81 (+8%).

- Lymphogranuloma venereum: 4 (+100%).