Health
Over 6 in 10 diagnosed with Chlamydia are aged 16 to 24
New episodes of genital chlamydia (uncomplicated) among those aged 16 to 24, UK
Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK, particularly among young people. In 2007, of the 259,000 diagnoses in genito-urinary medical (GUM) clinics where age-group was recorded, 150,000 diagnoses (58 per cent) were among young people aged 16 to 24.
Genital chlamydia infection was the most commonly diagnosed STI among those aged 16 to 24. In 2007 young people accounted for nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of all new chlamydia cases diagnosed in GUM clinics equivalent to just under 80,000 episodes. This compared with 58 per cent of new cases diagnosed in 1998 (just over 28,000 episodes). Over this period the rate more than doubled from 447 per 100,000 population in 1998 to 1,102 per 100,000 in 2007.
In 2007, almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of new episodes of chlamydia in women were diagnosed in those aged 16 to 24. As a proportion of all women diagnosed there was very little difference between the proportions of those aged 16 to 19 and those aged 20 to 24 (36 per cent and 38 per cent respectively). However, during the same period the difference for young men, as a proportion of all men diagnosed, was much greater, with 16 per cent of those aged 16 to 19 and 40 per cent of those aged 20 to 24.
The second most common sexually transmitted infection among young people was genital warts. There were around 49,000 diagnoses for those aged 16 to 24 in GUM clinics in 2007. Diagnoses were highest among men and women aged 20 to 24 years (16,697 and 14,386 respectively).
Maximum amount drunk by those aged 16 to 24 on any one day in week prior to interview, 2007, Great Britain
In 2007, 42 per cent of young men and women in Great Britain aged 16 to 24 reported that they had drunk more than the recommended daily units of alcohol on any one day in the week prior to interview.
More than two-fifths (44 per cent) of young men aged 16 to 24 reported that they drank more than four units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week. This was a fall of 8 percentage points from 52 per cent in 1998. The proportion of young men who drank more than double the recommended amount (eight units) on at least one day in the previous week also fell in 2007 to 32 per cent, a fall of 7 percentage points from a peak of 39 per cent in 1998.
There was little change in the proportion of young women reporting that they drank more than three units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week in 2007. Two-fifths (40 per cent) of women drank more than three units of alcohol compared with 42 per cent in 1998. The proportion of young women who had drunk more than double the recommended amount (six units) was the same in both 1998 and 2007 (24 per cent) having peaked at 28 per cent in 2002.
Source: Health Protection Agency; General Household Survey, Office for National Statistics
Notes: Uncomplicated chlamydia is the infection of the male urethra or female urethra/endocervix alone, without involvement of the epidydimis/testes in men or the pelvis in women.
Figures are for those reported in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics.
Advances in the detection of genital chlamydia (using nucleic acid amplification techniques) over the last decade has been a contributing factor to the increasing rate of this diagnosis.
Department of Health advice is that men should not regularly drink more than 3 to 4 units of alcohol per day, and women should not drink more than 2 to 3 units per day. Harmful drinking is considered to be twice the recommended daily amount.
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