During 2022, there has been a strong increase in gonorrhea cases in Norway, particularly among young heterosexuals. In the past, gonorrhea was associated with men who have sex with men. A tenfold increase – Now we see a sharp increase among young women, and that worries us, says senior advisor Øivind Nilsen at FHI. – Ten years ago we registered 50 cases of gonorrhea among women, last year the number was 499. In January, 277 new cases were registered, 116 of the cases are young women. If that trend continues in 2023, we will end up with around 3,000 gonorrhea cases combined in all risk groups, and around 1,000 cases among women. We must avoid ending up in that situation at all costs, says Nilsen. Cases of gonorrhea reported to MSIS 2022 January 2023 by month of diagnosis, mode of infection and gender. Cases of gonorrhea reported to MSIS 1993-2022 by year of diagnosis, mode of infection and gender. He believes the increase may be a consequence of the pandemic. – Now they have to take back everything that was lost. We saw that when universities and colleges opened, we had a sharp increase in gonorrhea among heterosexual, young students down to the age of 18-20. The risk of infection for most sexually transmitted infections is often twice as great for women as for men. – Women are more susceptible to infection because the infectious agents thrive and reproduce more easily in them. And gonorrhea is perhaps the most contagious, sexually transmitted infection we fight against, says Nilsen. Not noticing the symptoms – We know that gonorrhea is a particularly unfortunate disease, It is basically worse than chlamydia, which young people are used to dealing with. Women are particularly vulnerable. – 80-90 per cent of men will experience burning symptoms when urinating and discharge. For women, the symptoms are vaguer. Half of the women who become infected do not notice the symptoms, and are not aware that they are infected. And the longer you have the infection, the greater the risk of developing late complications, says Nilsen. TEST YOURSELF: Testing for gonorrhea after unprotected sex is important. Most women do not notice the symptoms of the disease. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB – They can get fallopian tube inflammation and they can get serious abdominal inflammation. In the worst case, the woman can become sterile. For women, the infection risk for gonorrhea is 50-70 per cent with one unprotected intercourse, while it is 20-30 per cent for men. What is gonorrhea? Gonorrhea is a bacteria that infects like chlamydia. But, in addition to being infected by sexual contact with the genitals, it is also transmitted via the throat. You get infected by having sex without a condom. Gonorrhea can cause very strong symptoms and problems. Gonorrhea has its own ability to develop resistance to antibiotics. The venereal disease can cause infections that can make it more difficult to get pregnant. If caught early, the infection is easy to treat Treatment-resistant gonorrhea is increasing worldwide. Source: Aarvold, Sex and society – Now we have to get the young people to use condoms. Remember that it is when meeting a new or casual partner that almost all infection occurs – always use a condom then, urges Nilsen. New partner – use a condom – We see that more young girls who have sex with boys get gonorrhea now than before. In the past, there was a lot of men having sex with men, a lot of infection abroad, but now there is infection in Norway, and in Oslo in particular. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are bad at using condoms in Norway, we are the worst in the world when it comes to condom use. That’s what Simon Ertzeid, a doctor at Sex and Society, says. He says that the gonorrhea bacteria has been shown to be able to change and become resistant. – You can see that it is becoming more and more difficult to treat gonorrhea. We have not discovered any super-resistant cases in Norway, but that will come eventually, says Ertzeid. He believes it is a social responsibility to use a condom. USE CONDOMS: – Norway is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to condom use Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB – The culture in Norway should improve, it should be a matter of course to use condoms during “one night stands”. – If you have a new partner, and if you haven’t had time to take a test after your last unprotected intercourse, use a condom at first. If you find out that you will be sleeping together for a while longer, take a test for chlamydia and gonorrhea, and then you can drop the condom afterwards if everything is fine, says Ertzeid. Test yourself It is very important to test yourself. – We take chlamydia and gonorrhea tests when the young people come in. Here we see that girls are much better at testing themselves than boys are. Only a quarter of the tests are taken by boys, says Ertzeid. There are clinics in all the big cities, and health centers all over the country, where it is possible to deliver a test. Testing and treatment for gonorrhea is free. The infection is usually easy to treat.
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Sharp increase in gonorrhea cases – Now we have to get young people to use condoms – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
