Sexually transmitted infections still at 8,000: more prevention and HPV vaccines are needed
From chlamydia to gonorrhoea to syphilis, right through to monkeypox and HIV: the call for a targeted strategy for at-risk groups and for education on ‘safe sex’
The total number of reported cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Italia in 2024 reached almost 8,000, representing a 12 per cent increase compared with 2023, which itself had seen a very significant rise on the previous year. This is revealed in the report from the two surveillance systems coordinated by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), which has just been published, ‘The trend in sexually transmitted infections over recent years is worrying; action must be taken on several fronts to reverse this trend,’ says Anna Teresa Palamara, who heads the Department of Infectious Diseases at the ISS. We need to take action on several fronts simultaneously: early diagnosis and treatment, which reduce the risk of transmission; prevention, for example by promoting the uptake of HPV and hepatitis vaccines; and providing accurate information and raising public awareness of the behaviours to adopt to prevent infections.”
Key figures
The most significant increases observed in 2024 compared with 2023 were for chlamydia infections (+41.5 per cent). In particular, a 61.2% increase in cases of chlamydia infection was observed in 2024 among men who have sex with men (MSM). The prevalence of chlamydia infection by age group is higher among people aged 15–24 than among those over 24 (in 2024: 8.3% vs 2.7%).
Reports of gonorrhoea increased fivefold between 2010 and 2024, peaking in 2024 at 1,555. Specifically, between 2021 and 2024, there was an 84.0% increase in gonorrhoea cases.
Between 2021 and 2024, there was a 16.0% increase in reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis, and in 2024, centres reported 695 new cases, 73.3% of which were among MSM. From 24 June 2023 to 31 December 2024, the surveillance system reported a total of 59 new cases of monkeypox virus (Mpox). 91.5 per cent of Mpox cases were diagnosed in MSM.
As for HIV, in 2024, out of the 4,981 people with STIs who were tested for HIV, 599 tested positive, representing a prevalence of 12 per cent. The prevalence of HIV infection among people with a confirmed STI in 2024 is around forty times higher than that estimated in the general Italian population.
How to reverse the trend
The approach proposed by experts at the National Institute of Health focuses, first and foremost, on promoting the early diagnosis and treatment of STIs by facilitating access to healthcare services through an Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) for people at risk of, or with, STIs.
Below are the other points of the ‘strategy’:
