According to Public Health France, bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, saw a significant increase in France between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, chlamydia infections increased by 16%, gonorrhea by 91% and syphilis by 110% compared to 2020. Researchers from Sorbonne University, Inserm and the Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health concluded these results based on data from the network Sentinels.
Since 2020, screening for bacterial STIs in general practice has increased. Cases of gonorrhea or syphilis were more often male, with more multiple partners, more history of STIs, more co-infections with HIV and more preventive treatments against AIDS than those with chlamydia.
Bacterial STIs have started to increase again in Western countries since the early 2000s, after a 20-year decline following the AIDS epidemic. At the same time, the use of condoms during sexual intercourse has decreased. STIs are a major public health problem due to their transmissibility, their frequency, the long-term complications they induce and their role in the transmission of HIV. The study authors emphasize the importance of continuing combined screening efforts for all STIs in patients and their partners.
Frank Verain
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