Rates of little-known super-STI ‘that causes infertility’ have spiralled 60-FOLD within last decade – Page
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Rates of little-known super-STI ‘that causes infertility’ have spiralled 64-FOLD within last decade, Government figures reveal
- Over 5,000 cases of mycoplasma genitalium were logged in England in 2021
- By comparison, just 79 cases of MG were recorded back in 2015, figures show
- Very few people, even doctors, knew about the stealthy STI until very recently
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Rates of a super-STI which can cause infertility in women have soared 60-fold over the last decade, official figures revealed today.
More than 5,000 cases of mycoplasma genitalium — which is becoming resistant to drugs — were logged in England in 2021.
By comparison, just 79 cases of MG were recorded when experts first proved it was a sexually transmitted infection seven years ago.
Despite being discovered in the 1980s, very few people, even doctors, knew about it until very recently.
Mycoplasma genitalium, also known as M. genitalium or M. gen, causes serious symptoms including infertility, but is resistant to four different types of antibiotics. It is estimated that up to one in five sexually active US citizens could have it
That is because it is commonly misdiagnosed as chlamydia.
This mistake has allowed the bacteria to quietly grow stronger and spread under the radar.
And because it has been treated with the wrong drugs, it is now very resistant to any antibiotic.
Most people who carry MG have no symptoms — but can still pass it onto others.
Bad cases can cause painful inflammation and watery discharge for men.
But the STI can be more serious for women, potentially causing womb scarring that leaves them infertile.
Today’s MG figures were released by the UK Health Security Agency, which monitors STI rates across England.
The data revealed that MFG rates have soared by a fifth in a year in the space of one year, from 4,230 in 2020 to 5,109 in 2021.
However, they are still slightly lower than pre-pandemic rates, with medics logging a sharp decline in STIs as lockdowns and social distancing reduced sexual activity.
MG rates had been rising by up to five-fold year-on-year before the pandemic struck, with 431 cases in 2017, 1,981 in 2018 and 5,331 in 2019.
The UKHSA stats also show that there was 311,604 new diagnoses of STIs in England in 2021, up by 0.5 per cent from 309,921 in 2020.
The figure is a third lower than pre-Covid, with 440,000 new STIs logged, on average, in the five years before the virus first sparked chaos.
One in 172 men (1.6 per cent higher than 2020) and one in 207 women (14.9 per cent lower than 2020) found out they had an STI.
However, charities warned that testing rates are still lagging behind pre-Covid levels.
While tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV at sexual health services increased by a fifth compared to 2020, the rate is still 13.2 per cent lower than in 2019 — meaning fewer cases are being detected.
The data also revealed that there was a ‘marked’ eight per cent rise in syphilis cases last year, with 7,506 new diagnoses compared to 6,923 in 2020.