The SPREAD of a BIBLICAL STI

Students returning to university have been warned to think about sexual health

- By RICHARD AULT

STUDENTS have been warned to wear condoms during Freshers Week as infections of a Biblical STI remain dangerously high.

While the latest data shows an “encouraging” recent decline in rates of gonorrhoea - the ancient sexually transmitted infection (STI) which is referenced in the Bible and early Greek and Roman writing - cases remain high.

The UK Health Security Agency has now warned students not to have unprotected sex during Freshers Week.

Medics say STIs are “declining from a high level” and that students need to be aware of the risks of infections, which are most common among those aged 15 to 24.

Last year, there were 71,802 cases of gonorrhoea in England, double the number from a decade ago and 167% higher than in 2012.

The infection rate - used to measure the risk of catching a disease - stood at 124.5 infections per 100,000 people in 2024. That's the equivalent of one in 803 people catching this STI, and it is double the rate from a decade ago (68.3 infections per 100,000 people).

However, that is lower than in 2023 (148.0 infections per 100,000 people), when gonorrhoea cases peaked at 85,370, more than at any other time since records began more than 100 years ago.