Almost 120 patients infected with syphilis and 210 patients with gonorrhea are treated annually by dermatovenerologists at the General University Hospital in Prague.

The number of syphilis cases doubled between 2013 and 2022, and gonorrhea increased almost one and a half times. Our experts thus confirm the global trend of an increase in infectious sexually transmitted diseases in the population. Drugs, sexual experimentation, sex with anonymous partners, dating apps and seasonal variations in sexual behavior all play a role. More frequent changes of partners, experiments in sexual behavior, older age at starting a family, but also excessive alcohol and drug consumption increase the risk of infection. People contact each other through dating apps, often under false identities, and it is usually impossible to detect the source of the infection. According to doctors, the time of year also plays a role in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases: sunlight stimulates the production of serotonin, which can increase libido, the sun supplies the body with vitamin D, which plays an important role in the production of the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.

In the summer, young people have more contacts on holidays, music festivals, concerts, where they underestimate the risks of unprotected sex. The problem also remains that only some venereal diseases are subject to mandatory reporting (syphilis - all types, gonorrhea, chlamydial infection, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and soft ulcer, which is typical for tropical regions of Africa, America and Asia and is relatively common in Central Europe rare). Other large groups of communicable diseases, the numbers of which are practically undetectable, are spread by yeast, scabies, lice and microorganisms that cause, for example, genital warts or herpes.

Learn more in the press release