Sexually transmitted infections have reached outbreak levels across Alberta. According to the province, the rates of gonorrhea and infectious syphilis have spiked dramatically over the past year.
Syphilis rates have risen most notably in men who have sex with men and gonorrhea rates have increased in young Indigenous females in particular. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Karen Grimsrud says it’s becoming harder to track STIs with new social media tools helping people arrange anonymous sexual encounters.
More than 3,400 gonorrhea cases were reported in Alberta in 2015, an 80 per cent increase from 2014. There were over 350 cases of syphilis in Alberta last year, doubling case counts from 2014.
Written by Melissa Kelly