RATES OF GONORRHOEA and syphilis have surged since the pandemic across Europe.

Rates are coming down in Ireland – helped by home-testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – but remain above pre-pandemic levels.

Officials from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have theories about what is driving the trend, they said as they published official figures for notified STIs in 2024.

Officials suggested changes in sexual behaviours post-pandemic may be a factor.

It was also suggested that due to treatment for HIV, there is less concern among some people that would encourage the use of condoms.

A change in how people meet their sexual partners was also touted as a possible reason for some of the increase in STIs, with more people meeting partners on dating apps.

“There is some theory of a post-pandemic sort of cohort effect, that maybe young people during the pandemic didn’t see each other very much and didn’t have as many contacts as they would normally, and maybe there was a surge after the pandemic,” one official said.

An increase in the numbers of people testing will also naturally increase the numbers testing positive.

How many STIs make a record?

Across Europe, cases of gonorrhoea reached 106,331 in 2024, a 303% increase on 2015.

Bacterial STIs can generally be cured with antibiotics, unlike viral STIs like HIV or herpes.

Syphilis cases more than doubled over the same period, reaching 45,577. Chlamydia remains the most frequently reported STI, with 213,443 cases.

Transmission trends vary significantly across different population groups.

Men who have sex with men remain the most disproportionately affected group, with the steepest long-term increases in gonorrhoea and syphilis.

Among heterosexual people, syphilis is rising, particularly among women of reproductive age.

The consequence of this is a near doubling of cases of congenital syphilis – when a mother with untreated syphilis passes the infection to her baby during pregnancy and birth – from 78 in 2023 to 140 in 2024 across 14 countries reporting
data.

Ireland reported no cases of congenital syphilis in 2024. It universally screens for syphilis during pregnancy, which is easily treated once detected.

How is Ireland doing?

The rate of bacterial STIs may be worsening across Europe, but Ireland – believe it or not – has been doing quite well.

Over the same period examined by the ECDC, Ireland’s rate of STI notification dropped 11% in 2024 compared to 2023, although this is still 31% higher than before the Covid pandemic year 2019.

There were significant decreases in chlamydia and gonorrhoea notifications, down 16% and 12% respectively. It’s an improvement on 2022, where Ireland had the highest rate of gonorrhoea across the EU, and the third-highest rate of syphilis. 

If we’re talking numbers, Ireland had 5,832 cases of gonorrhoea recorded in 2024, according to the ECDC (Ireland’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reported 5,961), while cases of chlamydia were recorded at 11,271 by the ECDC and at 11,534 by the HPSC. 

The HSE has undertaken several measures to achieve the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing STIs and ending STI epidemics as a public health concern by 2030, but it is not on target to do so.

Among some of its actions, aside from the home testing service, are access to free condoms and free public STI clinics. One official from the ECDC said Ireland’s free at-home testing has opened up testing to “people who have never [tested] before in their life”, and made it more accessible to those living in rural areas.

“Ireland is one of the countries where actually they are seeing a decrease in chlamydia, in gonorrhoea, so it remains to be seen if others will adopt the same approach,” she said.