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Next time you swipe right, you may want to get tested for sexually transmitted infections (STI).
The province is concerned about the rising rates of STIs including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, while encouraging the public to get checked when they change partners.
Chlamydia is the most common of the three, with 6,493 reported infections in 2017. Rates continue to climb slowly, up eight per cent from 2008.
There were 2,222 reported infections of gonorrhea in 2017. That’s a 123 per cent increase from 2015 and 2.8 times the 2016 national rate.
One of the biggest concerns though is the fast climbing rate of the less common infectious syphilis. While there were only 120 reported infections in 2017, that represented a 376 per cent increase from 2015.
Dr. Denise Werker, deputy chief medical health officer, explained those rates only show the laboratory confirmed cases. For many infections, people don’t show any symptoms.
“If they don’t know that they have been infected, they will not see a physician and they will not get tested,” said Werker.
Werker couldn’t pinpoint a single reason for the spikes. She said there are multiple factors that may explain the climbing rates.
“Sexual practices may have changed. There’s an increased use of websites for hookups,” said Werker.
She explained other reasons could include people not seeing their physicians, not having health care providers and the stigma behind STIs.
Werker encouraged more young men to get tested. She said while women are often routinely screened over the course of their lives, during pregnancy for example, young healthy men don’t often see a reason to get checked.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are all treated by antibiotics. Syphilis treatment is done by injection with penicillin.
One of the concerns for gonorrhea is antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Werker said there have been recent cases in Canada by people who’ve travelled internationally and brought back AMR gonorrhea.
She was firm in saying this is not an issue right now in Saskatchewan but there is an overall, increasing concern of the medication currently used for treatment of gonorrhea not being adequate if treatment is not managed appropriately.
One of the most important measures for preventing STIs is regular testing if you change partners or have frequent partners. Werker also encouraged the use of condoms — both male and female condoms, or dental dams — during oral sex.