While the development of “protected sex” following the AIDS epidemic had made it possible to bring down the frequency of sexually transmitted infections, it would seem that they are starting to rise again, especially among the youngest.
More than 376 million people contract a sexually transmitted infection each year worldwide. That’s over a million people every day. Between 2012 and 2016, the number of new diagnoses of Chlamydia and gonococcal infections increased considerably in France, Public Health France announced last year. “Young people aged 15-24 remain particularly affected by these STIs, which are often asymptomatic but sometimes have serious consequences”, specified the communicated.
“Prevention efforts are running out of steam”
Dr Maxime Vallée, urologist at the University Hospital of Poitiers, member of the infectiology committee of theAssociation Française d’Urologie (AFU), estimates today that “the prevention efforts made in the 90s and 2000s are running out of steam with a new generation less worried about STIs than were the generations who grew up in a time when there was no therapy to treat HIV.” According to him, the decrease in prevention campaigns is probably at the origin of this resurgence of STIs.. “These infections are soaring among young people and especially in certain populations such as homosexuals or bisexual men..
Gonococcal infection
Often revealed by pain when urinating, gonorrhea, also called “gonorrhea” or “gonococcal disease”, is linked to a bacterial infection with gonococcus (Neisseria gonorrhoeae). It results in signs that first affect the genito-urinary organs, but also the throat, the rectum and even the eyes, or even the entire body. Signs of gonorrhea appear 2-7 days after contaminating sex or kissing.
In women, gonococcal infection is quieter. “It can lead to cervicitis (inflammation of the cervix), sometimes purulent leucorrhoea, pelvic heaviness and more rarely urethritis and urinary burns…”, explains Dr Vallée. Women show few or no symptoms, making themselves susceptible to transmitting the infection without knowing it. The risk is then develop low-pitched salpingitis (infection of the fallopian tubes) which may eventually be responsible for tubal sterility, but also ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as an increased risk of HIV infection.
The antibiotic resistance of the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea makes treatment difficult. She “is particularly intelligent. This is because every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist it,” says Dr Teodora Wi, Physician, Department of Reproductive Health at the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO estimates, every year 78 million people are infected with gonorrhea worldwide.
The infection at Chlamydia
Affecting nearly a million people in France, chlamydia infection can be treated with antibiotics when detected. However, chlamydia is, in the majority of cases, asymptomatic: between 60% and 70% of women infected with the bacteria do not feel any symptoms and are therefore unaware that they have contracted it. “As much in men, there can be obvious symptoms as they often develop urethritis, which is irritation of the urinary tract with tingling while urinating and discharge. But in women, it’s much more complicated,” explains the Figaro Dr. Jean-Marc Bohbot, infectious disease specialist, medical director at the Alfred Fournier Institute in Paris. Hence the importance of getting tested regularly.
“It is discovered randomly during a gynecological examination or during a clinical manifestation in men, which encourages screening, explains the doctor. Even in the event of symptoms, these are often not very specific and there are often a delayed diagnosis. However, Chlamydia trachomatis, responsible for 50% of salpingitis in young women and 70% of tubal sterility, represents a real public health issue”.
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