Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) do not stop growing, as health professionals have been warning for years. Especially gonococcal infection, which has not stopped increasing since 2001. But its growth is not the same in all territories. Catalonia is the region with the highest rate of gonorrhea in all of Spain, 2.5 times more than the average and two times more than the second most affected, the Basque Country. Catalonia also leads the rate of chlamydia infections, with three times more than the Spanish average.
This is indicated by the report on the situation of STIs in 2022 carried out by the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE) and which clearly shows the continued increase in the incidence of gonococcal infection: in 2001 the rate It barely exceeded 2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while in 2022 49 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were reported.
The highest rates were recorded in Catalonia (121.88 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), the Basque Country (63.82), Madrid (58.89) and the Balearic Islands (48.61). The lowest rates were reported in Melilla (4.83), Extremadura (6.94), Castilla La Mancha (10.30) and Asturias (10.54).
According to age, the highest rates occurred in the 20 to 24 year old group (198.23) followed by the 25 to 34 year old group (167.60). By sex, the rates in men were higher than those in women in all age groups.
In 2022, Spain suffered the highest rate of syphilis since 1995, the year in which the infection was subject to epidemiological surveillance at the state level. In the year in which the report focuses, 8,141 cases of syphilis were reported, 17.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The communities that reported the highest rates were the Canary Islands (33.47), Madrid (25.93), Catalunya (24.75) and the Balearic Islands (24.67). Those with the lowest incidence were Aragón (2.58), La Rioja (3.16) and Castilla La Mancha (4.57). Melilla did not report cases in 2022
As in gonococcal infection, the rates were higher in men (31.32) than in women (3.73) and the age group with the highest rates was 25 to 34 years (48.68 per 100,000)
Regarding Chlamydia Trachomatis infection, which began to be monitored in 2016, the report indicates that rates have clearly increased. In 2022, 26,518 cases of Chlamydia trachomatis infection were reported, with a rate of 62.38 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest since 2016. Catalonia is in the lead, with 162 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Navarra ( 111.3) and the Basque Country (101).
Women are the most affected with the highest rates between 20 and 24 years of age (409.93) and between 15 and 19 (201.82). For men, the highest rates were between 25 and 34 years of age (237.31) and 20 and 24 years of age (226.76).
Why these increases? Because young people use condoms less and less and those who use them do not do so correctly (some, before ejaculating and the majority, only for vaginal penetration). The condom is not only a contraceptive method, it is a vital instrument to avoid sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that must be used appropriately throughout the sexual act, regardless of the type. This is repeatedly indicated by the Forum of STI Experts (FEXITS), which believes that it is necessary to carry out awareness campaigns like those launched in the 90s of ‘Put it on, put it on’ to stop what they already consider an epidemic. worldwide of these infections.
The end of the fear of AIDS, which has ceased to be a fatal disease and has become chronic, is partly behind this lack of youth culture. Also the fact that young people associate it only with a contraceptive method, which leaves the use of the pill in the hands of girls, for example. With this concept, those who have relationships with people of the same sex do not use it either.
Porn films, which have become one of the main sources of sexual information for young people, also have an influence. On very rare occasions, actors in this type of film use condoms, which normalizes their absence among youth.
