How not to get disease that tripled in region this year
THE rates of this one disease in the Darling Downs has increased by just over 200 per cent in the last five years.
Toowoomba
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THE rates of gonorrhoea in the Darling Downs has increased by just over 200 per cent in the last five years.
The shocking statistics have led to Queensland Health issuing an alert relating to the condition.
Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection also known as the clap. It can infect the reproductive passages in men and women, the anus and rectum, the mouth and throat, and the eyes.
About 43 people were diagnosed with the STI in the Darling Downs Health region in 2014, with that number increasing year on year. So far this year 134 people have been diagnosed with the STI.
The Darling Downs has followed the statewide trend on the increase of the clap.
The number of gonorrhoea cases in Queensland is already 20 per cent higher compared to last year and almost double the annual total from 2014.
Queensland Health Acting Chief Scientist of Public Health Microbiology, Forensic and Scientific Services Dr Amy Jennison said two cases in Australia had been labelled extensively drug resistant gonorrhoea.
“These cases are alarming but so far sporadic, however, what concerns us most is that we continuing to see an increase in the total number of cases here in Queensland each year,” she said.
Dr Jennison said the epidemiology of gonorrhoea in the state was also changing.
“Gonorrhoea used to be only generally associated with groups practising high-risk unprotected sexual practices, but now we see it expanding into the rest of the population,” she said.
She said to prevent getting or spreading any STI, use a condom every time you have sex.