More people in Worthing contract gonorrhoea and syphilis

EMBARGOED TO 0001 TUESDAY JUNE 13 File photo dated 17/05/20 of a junior doctor holding his stethoscope at The Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital in East Lancashire. The NHS will face "enormous" disruption as junior doctors in England go out on strike later this week, a top doctor has warned. Almost all routine or pre-planned care could be impacted in some way, according to Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director. Issue date: Tuesday June 13, 2023.

More people in Worthing contracted gonorrhoea and syphilis in 2022, new figures show.

It comes as gonorrhoea cases hit a record high in England, while the number of syphilis diagnoses has reached the highest level since just after the Second World War.

New figures from the UK Health Security Agency show 98 cases of gonorrhoea were recorded in Worthing in 2022, an increase of 45 on the year before, when there were 53.

In 2012, there were 27 cases.

Last year, eight syphilis cases were also recorded – down from 19 in 2021.

Across England, infectious syphilis diagnoses increased to 8,692 in 2022, the largest annual number since 1948.

Meanwhile, gonorrhoea diagnoses rose to 82,592 in 2022, an increase of 50% compared to 2021, and the highest number since records began in 1918.