Men were more likely to be diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) last year, mainly due to unsafe sexual practices, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Last year saw 9,738 confirmed cases of syphilis and 7,605 cases of gonorrhea, with unprotected sex the main cause, the CDC said in a statement.
STIs primarily affect sexually active men younger than 50, it said.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Veterans General Hospital via CNA
However, syphilis cases have decreased by 2 percent and gonorrhea cases by 8 percent from 2023, it added.
Although the number of cases is going down, syphilis cases in 2023 were the second-highest in five years, while gonorrhea remains among the top three most reported STIs, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told reporters.
Syphilis has a male-to-female reported case ratio of 5:1, while as many as 90 percent of gonorrhea cases were men, she said.
Syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum and spreads through direct contact with an infectious sore via skin-to-skin contact, mucous membranes and blood, with an incubation period of 10 to 90 days, she said.
The initial symptoms of syphilis are painless ulcers on the genitals, which can then develop into a rash, headache, fatigue and fever, she added.
If untreated, syphilis can cause tumors and life-threatening neurological and cardiovascular complications, Tseng said.
Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with symptoms presenting in men as pus-like discharge and painful urination from two to seven days after infection, while women are often asymptomatic, she said.
If left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to infertility in women, or spread to the rectum, throat or eyes, where it can cause gonococcal conjunctivitis, she added.
Both diseases are curable, although reinfection can occur, Tseng said.
The CDC recommends safe sex practices such as wearing a condom, using water-based lubricants and regular STI testing for those with active sex lives.
It also recommends that sexual partners encourage each other to get tested and treated if necessary to avoid “ping pong” style reinfections.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS