STI outbreaks as more than 2,400 cases reported in last five weeks

541 cases of syphilis have been identified so far this year. Picture: iStock

The rate of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has jumped in the last five weeks, with more than 2,400 cases recorded by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

The latest HPSC publication shows 14,515 STIs have been recorded in the first 31 weeks of 2023.

That represents a jump of more than 2,400 when compared to the data from the beginning of July, which saw 12,185 cases for the first 26 weeks of 2023.

There are an average of 468 new STI cases in Ireland per week.

For week 31, which ran from July 31 to August 5, the number of new cases was 291.

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, syphilis and HIV are the most prevalent infections so far this year, with the breakdown of the 14,515 cases including:

• 8,188 cases of chlamydia (up 54% on 2022);
• 4,173 cases of gonorrhea (up 127% on 2022);
• 994 cases of genital herpes; 
• 566 cases of HIV (up 19% on 2022);
• 541 cases of syphilis.

Ann Mason of the Gender Orientation Sexual Health HIV clinic in Limerick believes the symptomless nature of chlamydia and gonorrhea has led to the spike.

"If you didn’t know [you could pass it on] because you don’t think there’s anything wrong and that can have catastrophic consequences on your fertility when you get older.

"We did a trial testing of them in our centre and we found quite a high rate of positive results because people weren’t aware. 

"We have drop-in testing for HIV here — people are coming in and we say to them ‘if you give us a urine sample, we can test for chlamydia and gonorrhea as well’ and they were people who would never have gone to an STI clinic before."

Community testing key

Community testing was key, according to Ms Mason, as the infections can be cured quite easily.

She believes while community testing is one potential reason for the increased total year-on-year, the HSE’s introduction of free home STI test kits is another major reason.

“STI tests are far more accessible now — you don’t need to make an appointment and take time off school or work, sit in a waiting room with loads of other people. It can all be anonymous. 

"At the moment, the waiting lists at a local clinic might be two weeks and then another week for a result. Overall, it’s brilliant that it’s accessible, it’s for free — you get it sent to your door and you can drop it into a postbox. It’s far more convenient to get tested than ever before.”

The number of STIs recorded in those aged 14 and under nearly doubled in the same period, from six to 11.

Ms Mason noted some of the cases recorded in those aged 0-14 could have been transmitted from mother-to-baby.

M-pox, the official term for monkeypox, has almost completely been eradicated.

Compared to the first 31 weeks of 2022, there has been a 96% drop in the number of cases — from 99 in 2022 to just three in 2023.