A MAJOR spike in sexually transmitted disease infections is hitting the ACT, with gonorrhoea cases soaring to record levels, chlamydia continuing to infect hundreds of Canberrans, and syphilis making a resurgence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The latest figures from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reveal gonorrhoea cases have more than doubled in the past 12 months, soaring from 56 cases in 2010 to 118 cases for the year to date.
Chlamydia remains at high levels despite targeted testing and public education campaigns in the ACT. For the year to December, 1140 people in the ACT were diagnosed with chlamydia, compared to 1157 cases in 2010 before the government program began.
Both gonorrhoea and chlamydia can cause infertility in women and often have no noticeable symptoms, while men may have a burning sensation when urinating.
A single dose of antibiotics can clear the infection for both diseases, but the Health Department reports that the microbe causing gonorrhoea is increasingly resistant to antibiotics, causing problems for doctors trying to treat the condition.
About a third of gonorrhoea cases across Australia were found to be antibiotic resistant, but in the ACT the result was closer to a quarter of cases.
Men are more than four times more likely to contract gonorrhoea than women, with more than half of ACT cases infecting the anus or pharynx.
The number of syphilis cases in the ACT is also on the rise and is often undetected because symptoms may not be noticeable.
The infection is transmitted through close skin-to-skin contact - especially unprotected sex - and is highly contagious when sores or rashes are present.
Since 2002, the number of people with infectious syphilis in Australia has increased rapidly, mostly among men who have sex with other men.
Syphilis contracted within the past two years was reported in nine ACT cases, while a further 21 people had a diagnosis more than two years ago, or did not know when they got it.
All three diseases can be prevented through safe sex, but the majority of Australian teenagers are choosing not to use protection according to Health Department figures.
Associate Professor David Wilson, head of the public health surveillance and evaluation program at the Kirby Institute, said the current generation of teenagers and young adults tended to change sexual partners more frequently than previous generations had.
''It's likely due to young people having unsafe sex, not using condoms as frequently as what they used to. It could also be changes in partnership, partners changing more frequently,'' he said.
ACT Health said chlamydia affected one in 14 young people in Canberra.
