Public Health Wales: Rise in syphilis could be linked to dating apps
An increase in cases of syphilis across Wales could be linked to the use of dating websites and mobile phone apps for sex, Public Health Wales (PHW) warns.
PHW said 39 cases of the sexually transmitted infection had been reported in North Wales since the middle of 2013, compared with a usual average of around seven per year.
In South Wales, 55 cases have been recorded so far this year.
ITV News reports a Public Health Wales spokesperson said: “There is evidence that the infection is spreading particularly quickly in people who use dating websites and apps to meet other people for casual sex.”
The number of diagnoses of STIs reported in gay men has risen sharply in recent years, some of it is due to increased testing, but Public Health England also noted “that ongoing high levels of unsafe sex are leading to more STI transmission in this population”.
