STI annual reports now available
A summary slide set of STIs notified in 2016 is available on the HPSC website. Young people and men who have sex with men (MSM) are the two groups most affected. Cases of gonorrhoea and syphilis increased in 2016. For gonorrhoea this was due to an increase in cases among MSM. For syphilis, changes in the notification process for syphilis affected numbers; and the increases were mostly seen in men. Most syphilis cases are occurring in MSM, with 39% in 2016 also infected with HIV. In general notification rates are higher for STIs in HSE East, (counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow) than in the rest of the country.
Provisional figures for the first half of 2017 are also available. Some STIs are continuing to rise in 2017. Gonorrhoea is increasing, but indications are that this is more in the heterosexual population than in the MSM population this year. Syphilis numbers remain higher than in 2016.
Provisional weekly HIV and STI notifications are also available on the HPSC website.
STIs can be prevented by testing regularly, by using condoms for oral, vaginal and anal sex and by reducing the number of partners and overlapping partners.