Sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis have risen sharply in Portugal and Europe, affecting mainly young people aged 20 to 24, according to the latest annual epidemiological reports from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
In Portugal, the number of reported gonorrhea cases increased from 1,252 in 2021 to 2,253 in 2022. In the 28 countries of the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), there were 70,881 confirmed cases of gonorrhea in 2022, with an overall reporting rate of 17.9 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, an increase of 48% compared to 2021 and by 59% compared to 2018.
“2022 marks the highest number of gonorrhea cases in the EU/EEA in the last decade and since the start of European STI surveillance. [infeções sexualmente transmissíveis] in 2009,” warns the ECDC.
In reports published this Thursday, the majority (25 out of 28) of countries recorded an increase in the number of gonorrhea notifications in 2022, but countries with an increase of more than 50% were Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia , Liechtenstein, Norway and Poland.
Notification of chlamydia cases also increased in Portugal, from 914 cases in 2021 to 1,501 cases in 2022, and across the 27 EU/EEA countries, 216,508 confirmed cases of chlamydia infection were reported in 2022, with a gross notification rate of 88 cases per 100,000 people. residents, which is 16% more than in 2021.
Most of these reports of chlamydia involve women aged 20 to 24 years, although between 2018 and 2022, chlamydia transmission between men who have sex with men (MSM) will increase by 72%.
The number of syphilis cases has also increased in Portugal, from 1,144 cases reported in 2021 to 1,534 in 2022, with 35,391 confirmed cases of syphilis reported in 29 EU/EEA countries, giving an overall incidence rate of 8.5 cases per 100,000 residents.
The ECDC report shows the highest incidence of syphilis in Malta (24.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Luxembourg (23.4), Ireland (16.6), Spain (16.6), Liechtenstein (15.3) ) and Portugal (14.8). less than three cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia.
The ECDC also warns of an increase in cases of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), which in Portugal has increased from 55 cases in 2021 to 63 cases in 2022, as well as congenital syphilis (caused by mother-to-fetus transmission), which has not increased and has decreased in Portugal from 15 cases in 2021 to 14 in 2022.
The “significant increase” in the number of STI cases reported in 2022 compared to the previous year, with gonorrhea cases increasing by 48%, syphilis by 34% and chlamydia by 16%, highlights the “urgent need for immediate action” to prevent new ones cases of infection and mitigate the impact of STIs on public health, says ECDC.
He said the data shows a “urgent need” to increase awareness of STI transmission and the need to improve prevention, access to testing and treatment to address this public health problem.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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