Marie Claire UK - 10.2019

183

Dating apps and a disregard for condoms have combined to send rates of STIs soaring.

Lisa Harvey explores a dangerous shift in attitudes towards sexual health

‘Itfelt like my stomach was going to fall out when

I was told I had chlamydia,’says Amelia*. After a ten-year

relationship, she’d been single for five months and was having

casual sex with four men. ‘I’d met two on Tinder, one through

a friend, and one at work. I was on the pill and we mostly used

condoms, but there were times when we didn’t,’ she says. Then,

the symptoms started. ‘My vagina felt different. I thought it

was thrush or a UTI but I also felt fluey, so I booked an STI test.’

Amelia got the results a week later, shortly after meeting

Rob. ‘Like the other guys I’d slept with, apart from one who’d

since ghosted me, I told Rob I had chlamydia and had taken

antibiotics but couldn’t have sex for a week,’ she explains. ‘He

said not to worry, that he’d had it eight times. Apart from the

initial “Shit, I’ve got an STI”, I wasn’t that regretful. I’m 29 and

saw it as a rite of passage; something most people go through.’

That might sound alarming, but in terms of numbers,

Amelia has a point: recent data from Public Health England

reveals someone aged 15-24 is diagnosed with chlamydia or

gonorrhoea every four minutes. Globally, the World Health

Organization says more than 1 million STIs are acquired

every day and in 2016, 127 million between 15 and 49

contracted chlamydia, 87 million got gonorrhea, 6.3 million

were diagnosed with syphilis, while 156 million were

infected with the parasitic disease trichomoniasis (aka, trich).

All four bacterial infections are currently curable but

according to Superdrug’s resident sex expert Alix Fox, this

is leading to ‘magic capsule cockiness’ among millennials.

‘Many have grown up with a “quick-fix” attitude to sexual

heath and believe if they get an STI, the issue can be

instantly sorted,’ says Fox. ‘It’s why people take their

chances with condomless sex, then rely on medicine to

treat the problem if they need to afterwards.’

Previously, sex education focused on condoms as a tool for

pregnancy prevention. This, along with the fact there weren’t

any major STI awareness campaigns nationwide between

2009 and 2017, has led to a generation either missing out on the

message, or using the pill and thinking all bases are covered.

‘There’s also this horribly prevalent myth that STIs are simply

something that only happens to other people,’ Fox adds.

However, many STIs are masters of disguise. ‘People

assume there’ll be discharge, a rash or another red flag

signalling a problem,’ says Fox. ‘But chlamydia, for instance,

doesn’t show obvious symptoms in 70 per cent of women, and

50 per cent of men who are infected. You can look and feel OK

for a long time while carrying an STI. But if they’re left to

fester, undetected infections can lead to major health issues.’

Health

DOWN THERE?

WHAT’S UP,