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.