In this article we will rely on the information gathered and published by Public Health England in order to explore the prevalence of different STIs within the United Kingdom. We will answer the question what is the most common STI in England, but will also dive into deeper data regarding not just the number of those affected, but also the prevalence of each condition in both sexes and the changes in prevalence within the last ten years.
What’s on this page?
Chlamydia
Number of new cases annually: 208.755
Per 1000 of estimated population: 3.9
Male cases: 86.527 (41%)
Female cases: 120.242 (58%)
Annual increase: +0.5%
Gonorrhoea
Number of new cases annually: 29.291
Per 1000 of estimated population: 0.5
Male cases: 21.469 (73%)
Female cases: 7.637 (26%)
Annual increase: +15.5%
Genital herpes
Number of new cases annually: 32.279
Per 1000 of estimated population: 0.6
Male cases: 20.019 (62%)
Female cases: 12.258 (38%)
Annual increase: +0.7%
Genital warts
Number of new cases annually: 73.418
Per 1000 of estimated population: 1.4
Male cases: 32.614 (44%)
Female cases: 40.796 (56%)
Annual increase: –0.6%
Syphilis
Number of new cases annually: 3.249
Per 1000 of estimated population: 0.1
Male cases: 2.970 (91%)
Female cases: 279 (9%)
Annual increase: +9%
Other non-specific genital infections
Number of new cases annually: 53.962
Per 1000 of estimated population: 1
Male cases: 47.079 (87%)
Female cases: 6.879 (13%)
Annual increase: -10%
Conclusions
By looking at the numbers, we can easily conclude that chlamydia is the most common STI in England, and by a large margin. In fact, the number of annually diagnosed cases of chlamydia is roughly the same as the number of all other diagnosed STIs taken together. However, gonorrhoea on the second place is steadily on the rise, with annual increase of 14.5% and rise in the last decade of staggering 40%. Some argue that the reason behind this is the emergence of new antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhoea.
Annually reported cases of herpes have also doubled in the last decade, while the prevalence of genital warts has decreased.
In addition to this, it seems that roughly nine out of every ten patients diagnosed with syphilis is a man, making this condition significantly more prevalent among English men as opposed to women.
