Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to skyrocket in Spain. Castilla-La Mancha is among the communities where the least increases but, even so, in the case of gonorrhea the incidence has tripled between 2021 and 2023. And it is not the only one that increases.
This is reflected in the latest STI Epidemiological Surveillance report, which has just been published by the Carlos III Health Institute, and which analyzes data between 2021 and 2023. In Spain, it shows a 42.6% increase in gonorrhea and 24.1% of syphilis. In Castilla-La Mancha, in the last year, the number of syphilis infections did decrease.
Regarding gonorrhea, in 2016 – the first year for which this report collects data – there were 52 cases in the region. In 2021 they reached 116 and in 2022 they rose to 212, reaching 351 in 2023. It should be noted that the report has just been published but the latest data it collects corresponds to the year 2023.
The gonorrhea infection rate in the region has risen from two percent per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016 to almost 17% in 2023.
Syphilis cases decrease in a year
In 2023, and compared to the previous year, syphilis infections did decrease in the region. Specifically, they went from 94 in 2022 to 70 a year later.
In 2016, 65 were detected; and in 2021 there were 89. The incidence rate remained below four percent at the end of 2022.
The autonomous communities that reported the highest rates in 2023 were the Canary Islands (53.91), the Balearic Islands (33.97), Madrid (32.52) and Catalonia (30.54). Those with the lowest incidence were La Rioja (2.17), Castilla La Mancha (3.36) and Aragón (6.11).
The report includes data related to gonococcal infection – gonorrhea -, syphilis, congenital syphilis, chlamydia and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). The latter two have been monitored since 2015, so there is no information on the entire series as in the others, which have been monitored since 1995.
LGV
In Castilla-La Mancha, in 2023 there were no cases of LGV. There were up to 9 cases of this disease in 2022, although in 2021 there had been 2 and since 2016 a single case had been recorded in 2018.
Chlamydia infections do increase very significantly in Castilla-La Mancha. They went from 89 cases in 2021 to 288 in 2023. In 2016, the first year for which the report collects data, there were only seven cases.
In 2023, the highest rates were observed in Catalonia (194.56), Navarra (124.97), the Basque Country (102.78) and Madrid (85.97). With lower rates were Melilla (1.17), Aragón (5.52), Castilla y León (13.26) and Castilla La Mancha (13.82). Ceuta did not report any cases.
What are these diseases
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a group of pathologies of infectious origin in which the main route of acquisition is sexual relations, although they may have other modes of transmission. They are caused by different microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa or ecotoparasites.
There are more than 20 known sexually transmitted infections and some of the best known are syphilis, chlamydiasis, gonorrhea, HIV/AIDS, human papillomavirus (HPV), genital herpes virus, trichomoniasis, pediculosis public (crabs) or scabies.
They can pose danger
The importance of STIs also lies in their complications and sequelae if early diagnosis and adequate treatment are not made. Among its complications, infertility and pathologies such as pelvic inflammatory disease, orchitis, epididymitis and cancer can occur in the case of human papillomavirus (HPV).
Furthermore, many of these infections favor the acquisition of one of the best-known STIs, HIV infection, for which there is treatment but no cure. The vast majority do have effective treatments, some have vaccines and in all of them both prevention and early diagnosis are essential.
Gonorrhea can cause infertility and painful testicular infections
If treated early, gonorrhea is unlikely to cause long-term health problems. However, without treatment, the infection can spread to other regions of the body. Women can develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Men can develop a painful infection in the testicles.
Syphilis
In the case of syphilis, the symptom is a sore that appears when first infected. The problem is that it does not cause pain and can be confused with infected hair or a cut. The rash becomes evident in the second phase of the disease. This bacterial infection can also affect the eyes and cause permanent blindness.
Symptoms of late-stage syphilis, which can appear after years, range from paralysis to dementia or death. Of course, a timely diagnosis resolves the disease with antibiotics.
Clamidia
Chlamydia infection is more common in women, it is spread just like everyone else. When it gives symptoms, they are very similar, since it is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), only in this case the culprit is the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. Without proper treatment, this STD can also have serious health consequences.
