Fearing 40% hike in the spread of gonorrheas among gay and straight teenagers
We have had cases all the way down to the age of 14, "says Øivind Nilsen at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseinstituttet). The gonorrheas disease increases dramatically in Norway.
Gonorrhoea is in the process of working it self into youth communities. It is very infectious and we know that youth has a lot of unprotected sex, “says senior advisor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseinstituttet) Øivind Nilsen.
Gonorrhoea increases most among men who have sex with men, but the heterosexuals are soon to close that gap. We have seen a quadruplication among women in a few years, and it is still increasing among heterosexual women and men, “says Nilsen.
The arrow points one way: Upward. Last year there were 1096 cases of gonorrhoea in Norway. It has increased each year and the increase continues. If this development persists, we will probably end up in 1400 – 1500 gonorrheas cases in 2017, “says Nilsen.
In that case, it will correspond to an increase of about 40 percent in one year.
In Denmark, 3600 cases were registered in 2016. In Sweden, the increase is also strong. Øivind Nilsen in FHI feared to see the same mass spread in Norway in a short period of time.
Graphics by Folkehelseinstituttet
Photo By NIAID (Neisseria gonorrhoeae Bacteria) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons