Syphilis and gonorrhea on the increase
Cases of syphilis increased by over 113 percent and of gonorrhea by over 120 percent between 2020 and 2022, data from the Hellenic National Public Health Organization (EODY) has shown.
In 2022, there were 862 syphilis diagnoses compared with 404 in 2020. Gonorrhea diagnoses went up from 164 to 362 in the same period.
The vast majority (93 percent) of syphilis cases were detected in men, who were mostly aged mainly between 25 and 64. In most of the male cases (72 percent), the mode of transmission involved same-sex sexual contact.
Men were also mostly (96 percent) affected in the gonorrhea detections, with most falling in the 25-44-year age bracket. The mode of transmission was divided between men sexual contact between men (47 percent) and between men and women (46 percent).
EODY said that the increase in syphilis and gonorrhea detections are reliable indicators of the trend for other sexually transmitted diseases and for sexual attitudes among the population.
“It seems, therefore, that high-risk sexual behavior is multiplying and concern an ever-wider part of the general population, making it imperative to control the spread and prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases,” EODY said.
