Why sexually transmitted infections are exploding

Santé Publique France records increases of 16 to 110% in the incidence rates of sexually transmitted diseases between 2020 and 2022. The most affected population: 15 to 24 year olds. A problem that does not spare Corsica.

Chlamydia, Syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV… These sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have one thing in common: all have seen their incidence rate increase considerably in recent years.

This is what emerges from an STI surveillance bulletin in metropolitan France from Public Health France, which compares the cases declared in 2020 and 2022. The figures are almost dizzying: +16% for Chlamydia, +91% for gonorrhea, and +110% for Syphilis. HIV case detections are also on the rise, with 5,700 HIV discoveries in 2022, compared to 4,856 in 2020.

Many of these new patients are young, even very young: the latest data from the WHO (world health organization) indicate that nearly 50% of STI detections concern 15 and 24 year olds.

Corsica is not spared from the phenomenon: in the island's sexual health centers, there is also a significant increase in cases among young people. Alarming, yes, but Clothilde Bonifacy, nurse at the Ajaccio sexual health center, puts these data into perspective: “If we are recording more positive screenings, it is also because more and more young people are coming to be screened. We therefore have more chances, logically, of finding positive cases“.

Screenings which could become even more numerous: since September 1, 2024, young people under 26 can be tested free of charge and without a prescription in the laboratory. for hepatitis B, syphilis, chlamydia infection and gonorrhea. Previously, only HIV testing was freely accessible to all, without a prescription or advance payment.

Among those who go to the sexual health center to be tested, women are a little more numerous, indicates the nurse. “They tend to be a little more attentive to their health and even come to do checkpoints.” when men come instead “as a last resort, after having had a relationship that they consider very risky. As a result, they often arrive very stressed.”

Another element to take into account in the increase in the number of cases detected: “We also have increasingly effective screening methods: we can now carry out PCR tests, which are more sensitive, and therefore detect STIs which would not necessarily have been discovered otherwise. says Clothilde Bonifacy.

Two factors which influence the data and logically increase the numbers of STI patients… But which do not justify everything. “Sexual practices have also evolved significantly, with behaviors now more risky. Chemsex [la prise de drogues lors de l’acte sexuel] is more widespread, and when we mix sex and drugs, we are less likely to think about contraception“, whispers the nurse.

Sexual practices have also evolved significantly, with behaviors now more risky.

Laetitia Costa, also a nurse at the Ajaccio sexual health center, is pursuing this idea. “In general, young people use contraception less than in the past, which necessarily increases the risks of STI transmission.“

“There is also, perhaps, a certain relaxation over the years, corroborates Angèle Alaris, nurse at the Sartène and Propriano centers. When they're younger, coming out of middle school and high school information classes on safe sex, they pay attention. And then, over the years, they relax.“

The nurses make one last observation, and undoubtedly the most worrying: “Sexually transmitted infections are almost becoming commonplace among younger people. Because there are treatments, they think that it is no longer something serious, that in all cases it can be cured, and so if they catch one, it will be resolved over time.“

These professionals mention in particular the case of young people convinced, today, that the disease AIDS can be cured. “It is a confusion which arises from the fact that they cannot differentiate between stabilization treatment, that is to say what exists today for AIDS, and cure, tell Laetitia Costa. There is a misunderstanding of the message, which is undoubtedly explained by a lack of information or bad information, and which makes some young people say to themselves that they do not need to protect themselves..”

The nurses insist: in terms of sexuality, it is essential to plan for the future, “because it doesn't just happen to others“. And because it will always be better to be too careful than (very) sorry.

The STI surveillance bulletin in France, published in November 2023, reveals that Corsica has the lowest rate of HIV serologies carried out in laboratories. There are recorded 68 tests per 1000 inhabitants in 2022, compared to 220 per 1000 inhabitants in Guyana, the territory with the highest rate, or still 113 per 1000 inhabitants in PACA.

Although the island also has the lowest HIV discovery rate (17 people per 1,000,000 inhabitants), it records a significant proportion of late diagnoses, with 80% of cases being detected at an advanced stage, which complicates their detection. in charge.

Comparatively, only 4% of HIV diagnoses for people living in Corsica are at an early stage.

Concerning bacterial STIs, in 2022, the screening rate for Chlamydia trachomatis infections in Corsica is 41 per 1000 inhabitants. The infection incidence rate is 94 per 1000 inhabitants.

The gonorrhea screening rate in Corsica is 51 per 1000 inhabitants. For gonorrhea, the screening rate is 51 per 1,000 inhabitants, with a positivity rate of 0.9%, the lowest recorded in France in 2022.