HSE warns of massive rise in sexual diseases

THE number of patients treated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the mid-west increased by over 60% between 2000 and 2004.

But the figures released by the Health Service Executive Mid West (HSE MW) did not show the true scale of the problem as many people in the area reportedly sought treatment outside STI clinics.

The more accurate figure, it has been suggested, could be double that recorded by the STI clinics.

The region has the country’s highest rate of a particular infection, NSU (non-specific urethritis).

In 2004, there were 1,690 new notifications of STIs from the clinic services of the HSE Mid-Western Area (formerly Mid-Western Health Board) compared with 1,039 in 2000.

Last year’s figure represented an increase of 33% in notifications on 2003.

A HSE spokesman said: “The low number of notifications in 2003 may be influenced by an official public health doctor dispute over 11 weeks when clinics were not fully operational in that area.”

Total new notifications of STIs in the HSE MW area were as follows :

* 2000: 1,039.

* 2001: 1,224.

* 2002: 1,506.

* 2003: 1,265.

* 2004: 1,690.

The spokesman said: “In the Mid-Western Area there was a rise in ano-genital warts seen in women. Chlamydia notifications remain high, slightly more with women than men. A quarter of chlamydia infections were in people under 20 years of age.”

The figures show that the number of cases of gonorrhoea fell since 2002 with men mostly affected.

Notifications of NSU continue to rise in both men and women.

The rate of NSU in the Mid-Western Area is the highest in the county.

There was a drop in notifications of syphilis in the mid-west in 2004.

Ano-genital warts (520) represented the single biggest type of sexually transmitted infection in 2004.

But the spokesman said the figures did not show the true picture about the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

He said: “In the case of chlamydia trachomatis, we estimate only 50% of cases are diagnosed within the clinic setting.”

Further information is available from www.mwhb.ie

* The STI clinic in the Mid-Western area can be contacted at 06- 482382.