North West revealed to be one of the chlamydia capitals of the UK

New research by NowPatient has revealed that the North West is one of the most infected regions in the country for chlamydia.

The North West comes second only to London for rates of the STI, with 26,374 new cases recorded in 2022, which equates to 355.33 infections per 100,000 population. Liverpool was named as the most infected city in the North West, with 4,191 new cases in a year.

Last year it was announced that Lancashire's sexual health services were moving out of the Royal Preston Hospital and into a new facility in the Fatima Health Centre in Garstang Road, Preston.

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The new, larger hub doubles the number of clinical rooms available to 15. 

How common is chlamydia?

Chlamydia is by far the most common STI in England, accounting for just over half of all infections with more than 199,000 diagnoses. This is more than double that of the next most common STI, gonorrhoea, which saw 82,592 diagnoses in 2022.

Genital warts and genital herpes follow in third and fourth place, respectively, with fairly similar numbers of 26,079 and 24,910. Syphilis recorded 8,962 diagnoses across the country, while the lesser-known infections trichomoniasis and mycoplasma genitalium followed closely behind with just over 7,000 diagnoses each.

The least common STI in the study was HIV, which saw 3,805 new diagnoses in 2022.

Symptoms of chlamydia and what to do

Navin Khosla, a pharmacist at NowPatient said:  “Chlamydia is transmitted through unprotected sex and is particularly active in sexually active teenagers and young adults. And it is recommended that those age groups should take a test once a year, and or when they have sex with new or casual partners. Most people with chlamydia do not notice any symptoms and therefore do not know they have it. However, there are symptoms to keep an eye out for:

• Pain when urinating.

• Unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or bottom.

• In women, stomach pains, bleeding after sex and bleeding between periods.

• In men, pain and swelling in the testicles."

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, or think you are at risk of having an STI, contact your GP for an appointment, or visit a community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic to get tested.