Gonorrhea epidemic behind rising sexually transmitted disease diagnoses in 2022

The number of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed by Dutch sexual health centers increased last year, the public health institute RIVM reported Thursday. The surge in gonorrhea and chlamydial infections drove the increase.

There were 10,600 diagnoses, a 33% increase from 2021, when the number of gonorrhea cases was 7,964. The number of women and heterosexual men with gonorrhea has increased sharply. The positive test rate for women rose from 1.5% to 2.3%, and for heterosexual men from 1.8% to 2.4%. There was a slight increase in the positive test rate from 12.4% to 12.8% among men who had sex with men and were not participating in PrEP trials (MSM), and from 9.2% to 9.8% among MSM who participated in PrEP trials. .

Last year, the number of chlamydia cases increased by 21% to 24,684 diagnoses. The percentage of women who tested positive for chlamydia rose from 16.2% to 17.9%. The proportion decreased slightly among heterosexual men and MSM, to 21.2% and 10.9%, respectively.

The number of people diagnosed with syphilis has increased from 1,398 in 2021 to 1,574 in 2021. However, the positive test rate in MSM he decreased slightly from 2.6 percent to 2.3 percent. Syphilis diagnoses remained low among women (0.15%) and heterosexual men (0.29%).

Last year, 144 people were diagnosed with HIV, up from 138 in 2021. Last year, 11 women and 8 heterosexual men were diagnosed with HIV. The remaining infected were among MSM, including 10 participants in the PrEP trial. Four of these men were diagnosed at the time of study entry.

Last year, approximately 8,558 people participated in clinical trials of PReP (a combination of drugs that can protect people at high risk of HIV from infection) (pre-exposure prophylaxis). Participants will be tested for sexually transmitted infections every three months. Last year, his 39.8% of participants had her STI.

The Sexual Health Center also confirmed 1,259 cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, last year. The first case of mpox he was reported in the Netherlands in May 2022. Most of the infections (92%) occurred among her MSM.

Last year, a total of 164,715 people visited sexual health centers to be tested for STDs. Twenty-one percent tested positive. “People who were reported through their partners or who had symptoms themselves were most frequently found to have STDs,” RIVM said.