What we know
What information do we have about the Eastern Board area?
What is the result of this on our health locally?
Policies
What is happening in the Eastern Board area?

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) include serious infections such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia as well as milder but distressing conditions such as genital herpes and warts.  Many may cause long-term as well as short-term problems.  They have the capacity to cause chronic illness and even death. 

While sexual partners are most commonly affected, some STIs, such as HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis, can also be passed by a pregnant mother to her baby.  Hepatitis B may in addition be spread within households (the most common world-wide means of spread).

Most STIs are easily treated if identified in time.  However they can cause a range of long-term health problems, and some may cause death.  Untreated chlamydia and gonococcal infection in women frequently lead to infertility.  Genital warts are increasingly thought to be a cause of cervical cancer.  A small number of acute hepatitis B infections result in death from acute liver failure, and some chronic infections lead to long-term liver damage and cancer.  HIV is treated with a complex and difficult regime of antiretroviral drugs (HAART).  Since these drugs were introduced, the development of AIDS and deaths, have been greatly reduced in those with HIV, but these drugs do not eliminate the virus entirely.

The incidence of STIs is rising across the UK, including across Northern Ireland.  Avoidance of STIs by individuals relies on limiting numbers of sexual partners and practising ‘safe sex’.

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The incidences of STIs are all increasing, with particularly worrying increases in the more serious infections.  This indicates an increase in risky sexual behaviour.  Such an increase has many possible causes, such as increased binge-drinking, decay of the effect of the HIV/AIDS campaigns of the 80s and early 90s, and possibly a decrease in fear of HIV infection since drug treatment has been introduced.

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An outbreak of syphilis was reported in Northern Ireland in September 2001.  By 31 January 2005, 141 cases had been reported.  Prior to this, syphilis had become a rare infection.  Those most at risk are men who have sex with men, with 108 affected.   More recently there have been an increasing number of heterosexual men and women affected.  Particularly worrying is that a small number of infections have been picked up by antenatal screening, in pregnant women who have been unaware of their infection.  Syphilis infection can be passed to the baby during pregnancy and can result in severe damage to the foetus.

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