news desk Lord, save her
Gonorrhea infections in Denmark have been rising for a long time, and now the infection curve has taken an unusually large jump.
Nearly 40 percent more people were diagnosed with gonorrhea in the past year than in the previous year, and the number is now at the highest level in more than 25 years.
This is shown by the most recent calculation of The Statins Serum Institute (SSI), which calculated the numbers for 2022.
A total of 3,906 cases of sexually transmitted infections were reported in 2022, while 2,807 cases were reported in 2021. In comparison, in 2000, only 152 cases were reported.
Gonorrhea is detected more often in gay men than in homosexuals, and while there has been a steady increase in infections for homosexuals over a number of years, infections have almost stagnated among homosexuals since 2016.
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But the prevalence of infection is now seen especially among heterosexual men and women, who represent an increase of about 44 percent, while among homosexuals the infection increases somewhat less, at 26 percent. And that’s great, says Susan Cowan, division director for SSI.
βIt’s a very strong increase among heterosexuals, where there wasn’t a huge increase several years ago. Now we’re suddenly seeing a jump here after COVID-19,β she said.
A possible explanation for the fact that gonorrhea has been on the rise in general since the turn of the millennium must be found in the fact that fear of another sexually transmitted disease has decreased.
When HIV made its advance in the 1980s, campaigns for safer sex and fear of contracting the new and then deadly disease led more people to protect themselves with condoms. And condoms not only prevent HIV infection, but also cause a decrease in the incidence of many other sexually transmitted diseases.
However, there are indications that more people are now putting condoms on the shelf, says Susan Kwan.
The fear of HIV is no longer there as it was in the 80’s and 90’s. So we’ve always expected that gonorrhea will rise to the same levels that we saw before HIV.”
