Swipe left: Is Tinder to blame for a rise in sexually-transmitted infections?

Is social media to blame for the rise in sexually-transmitted infections (STI) in Alberta? Yes, according to that province’s chief medical officer of health.

Earlier this week, Alberta health officials reported 3,400 gonorrhea cases in Alberta last year – up 80 per cent from 2014, and the highest rate since the late 1980s. The number of cases of infectious syphilis doubled from 2014 to 350 last year.

Health officials said hookups that take place on social media are the major reason for a “dramatic” spike in these rates.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Karen Grimsrud said while there are several factors at play, social media is “probably the single most or highest reason why we are getting the increased rates.”

“New social media tools enable people to communicate quickly to arrange anonymous sexual encounters, resulting in increased difficulty in tracking STIs,” she said.

Grimsrud also noted that when people don’t know the identities of their sexual partners, it makes it tough to contact their partners for testing and treatment.

Ontario seeing the same trend?

Dr. Vanessa Allen, chief of medical microbiology and an expert in STIs at Public Health Ontario, could not comment on the likelihood of social media playing a role in more infections in this province.

However, Allen said she thinks the “evidence does lead to people partnering more.” At the same time, she questioned whether the higher rates are because people are not using condoms or increasing oral sex activity.

“Presumably, the fact that there are more venues to hook up, whether it is an app or a social media site, is one component of it, but even then, if people were using safe sexual practices, we shouldn’t be seeing this increase,” she said.

While Ontario is not seeing an 80 per cent jump in gonorrhea and syphilis cases like Alberta, Dr. Allen said rates have doubled over a 10-year span from 2005 to 2015, which she calls “dramatic.”

Ontario seeing ‘dramatic’ rise in numbers

In 2015, Ontario Public Health reported 5,936 cases of gonorrhea compared to 3,325 cases in 2005, which Allen said is “quite concerning.” Other provinces are also seeing such increases, she said. In 2014, there were 5,838 cases.

So far in 2016, there have been more than 1,800 cases, which is about the same number of cases at this point last year.

“What’s been surprising all along is every year we’ve gone up since 2005,” Allen said. Between 2013 and 2015, there was a 33 per cent increase in gonorrhea infections. Health officials are concerned because STIs are becoming more resistant to antibiotics.

“With gonorrhea, they don’t have any more drugs after these ones to treat it,” she said.

Last spring, Toronto Public Health reported an increase in gonorrhea rates in the city. From January to September of 2014, there were 2,040 cases – a 26 per cent increase from the same time period in 2013. However, the total number of cases in 2013 – 2,214 – was the highest yearly number over an 11-year period.

Infection rates for chlamydia and syphilis are also up considerably since 2005. In 2015, there were 39,014 cases of chlamydia compared to 21,873 in 2005. The rates are about 10-fold higher than gonorrhea, but Allen said it is normal to see higher chlamydia rates.

Cases of syphilis have almost tripled to 1,039 cases last year, compared to 359 in 2005.

“They are all dramatically up. Pretty much every year it’s gone steadily up. It’s very concerning for disease control,” Allen said.

Gonorrhea is twice as common in men as in women, but chlamydia is more common in women than in men.

“Looks like there are slightly different sexual networks, so it’s not like it’s restricted to one group that’s more at-risk. It looks like there is a sort of more widespread practice of either more partners or more unprotected activity, or a combination of the two that seems to be driving this,” Allen said.

Allen said chlamydia and syphilis infections can be asymptomatic, so a person can catch it from a person and transmit it to someone else without producing or showing symptoms.

She offers the following advice for people to protect themselves from STIs:

  • Condoms are “critical” when not in a relationship where someone has been tested ahead of time
  • Oral sex is a mechanism for STI transmission, and a “very robust way of transmitting gonorrhea and syphilis”
  • People should get tested if they’ve had high-risk exposure to make sure they don’t pass it to someone else
  • Education is key so that each individual can protect themselves

 

While Alberta is blaming social media for its rise in STIs, Allen said the Internet is beneficial to educating people in the long run.

“Once of the advantages of the Internet is that people can look it up and still stay private,” she said.

“Not only can people necessarily use the Internet or other tools to hook up, but it’s a really important tool to think about how people can stay safe.”

Need-to-know prevention information


With files from The Canadian Press

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