“The numbers paint a bleak picture, which demands our immediate action,” ECDC director Andrea Ammon told a press conference on the data.
As cases of syphilis in the U. S. , here’s what infectious disease experts need you to know.
Untreated STIs can lead to a number of health problems, adding to chronic pain, infertility, and, in the case of syphilis, neurological and cardiovascular complications.
Cases of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) and congenital syphilis, when the infection is passed from mother to fetus, have risen sharply, albeit from lower levels, the ECDC said.
Two other people kiss near a bonfire on Poniente beach in Gijon, Spain, on June 24, 2017. ECDC data shows an increase in STIs in Europe, due in part to increased testing and riskier sexual behaviours. (Reuters/Eloy Alonso/Photo Archive)
STI rates have been rising for years in many countries, including Europe, this trend has come to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic when many governments have imposed social isolation measures, other people have stayed at home, and notification rates have plummeted.
There are a number of reasons for this sustained increase, the ECDC explained, adding increased surveillance and development at home, as well as an increase in risky sexual behaviour.
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According to the most recent data, the increase in infections among young heterosexuals, and especially among young women, may simply be due to a change in sexual behavior after the pandemic, the European company said.
He said there is no evidence yet that the accumulation of pasanorrhea infections is due to antimicrobial resistance, but said he would continue to monitor this phenomenon. Ammon said those numbers are likely just the “tip of the iceberg,” as many infections go undetected.
European countries want to focus on testing, remedies and prevention efforts, he said, and Americans want to take steps to protect themselves, adding condom use, for example.