Sexually transmitted diseases will soar across Europe in 2022, with reported cases of gonorrhea increasing by nearly half, according to data released on Thursday.
According to a report by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the number of syphilis infections alone has increased by 34% year-on-year to more than 35,000 people, and the number of chlamydia infections has increased by 16% to more than 216,000 people. .
Gonorrhea cases are at the forefront of the crisis, with “alarming” numbers surging 48% to more than 70,000, reflecting similar trends in the United States and abroad.
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“These numbers paint a grim picture and demand immediate attention and action,” ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said at a press conference about the data. report.
Untreated infections can lead to a variety of health problems, including chronic pain, infertility, and, in the case of syphilis, neurological and cardiovascular complications.
The ECDC said cases of venereal lymphogranuloma (LGV) and congenital syphilis, which is transmitted from mother to fetus, are also rapidly increasing, although at low levels.
File/A darkly stained tissue sample shaped like a corkscrew and containing large numbers of Treponema pallidum spirochetes, the bacterium that causes syphilis. (Skip Van Orden/CDC via AP, File)
Infection rates have been rising for years in many countries, including Europe, but the coronavirus pandemic has slowed rates down as most governments instituted social distancing measures, people stayed home and reporting rates declined. The Reuters report points out that the situation has stalled.
The latest data showing a sharp rise in infections among heterosexual young people, especially young women, may be due to changes in sexual behavior after the pandemic, the EU agency said.
As Breitbart News reported, the rise in sexually transmitted disease rates in Europe follows a similar pattern occurring in the United States.
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Syphilis rates have risen in the United States to levels not seen since the 1950s, a federal report on sexually transmitted infections among adults revealed in January.
As the sexually transmitted disease epidemic continues to expand in the United States, it has been reported that by 2022, the total number of people infected with chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis will exceed 2.5 million nationwide.
