Doctors issue warning as STIs rise

Published: Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 12:13PM

The number of people suffering from sexual transmitted infections has risen by 6 per cent, figures show.

There were 397,990 new STIs diagnosed in UK genito-urinary medicine (gum) clinics in 2007 - up on the 375,843 cases in 2006.

A report from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed that young people aged 16 to 24 continued to be most affected, accounting for around half of all newly-diagnosed STIs in the UK.

It showed new cases of genital herpes rose 20 per cent while there was a 7 per rise in genital warts and chlamydia.

New cases of gonorrhoea fell 1 per cent, while there was also a small decline in syphilis of 0.2 per cent.

Young women aged 16 to 19 accounted for the highest number of cases of chlamydia and genital warts in 2007.

Among men, the infections were most prevalent among those aged 20 to 24.

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