Norwich has been named as the UK’s hotspot for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), chlamydia, gonorrhea and genital warts, new analysis shows.
Meanwhile, in Bristol, the biggest concerns were syphilis and oral herpes, according to data compiled in LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor’s annual Safe Sex report. Report.
The findings come as condom use continues to decline and the UK is hit by a massive rise in STIs driven by sharp increases in teenagers and older people.
To compile their report, Lloydspharmacy experts questioned 1,000 adults, examining online discussions and search statistics, along with NHS figures.
The results, they said, were intended to “highlight the importance of safe sex and attitudes around sexually transmitted infections and contraception.”
According to Google search data, the most searched STI in the UK is chlamydia, with an average of more than 76,500 searches per month, an increase of 31 per cent in one year.
This was followed by HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis and scabies, which, while not strictly an STI, are often transmitted during sexual activity.
The report also found that the majority of sexually active Britons (41 per cent) are intimate once a week.
Norwich has been named as the UK’s hotspot for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), chlamydia, gonorrhea and genital warts, new analysis shows.
One in 12 (eight percent) say they have sex daily and one in six (17 percent) say they have it once a month.
Three in five revealed that they had previously been diagnosed with an STI and one in five admitted that they never practiced safe sex (with a condom).
Taking a closer look at the search data, the report identified specific areas of the UK that were most frequently searching for different STIs.
Norwich (population 418,000) recorded the highest number of searches for any STI per capita (per person), with 201 in every 100,000 searching for chlamydia in this area.
The city also saw the highest volume of searches for gonorrhea, with 111 searches per 100,000 people, and for HPV, the virus that can cause genital warts, with 63 searches per 100,000.
In Birmingham (population 2.6 million), HIV was the biggest concern, with 129 searches per 100,000 people.
Barrow-in-Furness was named the UK capital over hepatitis fears, while Newcastle topped the list for searches for genital herpes (HSV-2).
Residents of Derry, Northern Ireland, searched the most for scabies, and the sleepy south coast town of Woking (population just over 100,000) saw the highest searches for Mycoplasma genitalium, a bacterial infection. .
The findings come as condom use continues to decline and the UK is hit by a massive rise in STIs driven by sharp increases in teenagers and older people.
The report also used an artificial intelligence program to analyze Reddit threads discussing STIs. From this, they were able to highlight the most and least commented infections, and the algorithm was also able to rate how stressful the comments were.
It found that HIV was the most frequently mentioned and most stressful STI talked about on Reddit, followed by herpes and chlamydia.
Lloydpharmacy Online GP Dr Bhavini Shah said: ‘HIV and herpes can be a major source of anxiety as they cannot be completely cured.
However, there are medications and treatments available to help manage these conditions.
If you are concerned that you may have contracted HIV in the last 72 hours, you should contact your local sexual health clinic or hospital as soon as possible.’
Herpes, which causes painful, blistering sores primarily in the mouth and genitals, was also seen as the source of most social stigma, followed by HIV.
Earlier this year, the UK Health Security Agency reported that 401,800 new STIs will be diagnosed in England in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.7 per cent.
The sharpest increase was among 13- and 14-year-olds, where the number rose by almost a fifth (19.5 percent) to 459.
Pensioners aged 65 and over followed, with an 18.2 per cent increase in new cases, to 2,885.
Some Brits engage in risky unprotected sex after meeting on dating apps, while others begin new sexual relationships after getting divorced or widowed in old age.
Concerns have also been raised about children copying what they see in pornography, which they freely access on their mobile phones.
There was a big drop in STI infections during the Covid pandemic, followed by a boom, as people began to return to normal sexual activity.
However, rates are still below what they were before the pandemic.