Careless behaviour leads to rise in STIs

Fears are growing regarding the increasing number of adults engaging in unprotected sex and contracting a sexually transmitted disease. The concerns come after the ‘DrFox’ website conducted a survey involving roughly 2,000 women between the ages of 18 to 40. The survey asked them detailed questions regarding their sex lives and their attitudes to sex. The results were alarming to say the least. Seven out of ten single women claimed that they regularly engaged in unsafe sex, with one third admitting that they simple ‘get swept away in the moment’ and forget to use a condom.

In addition, 18% of single women said they are sometimes too drunk to use contraception and 8% simply said they do not like using them. One in five said that they had trust in their partner not to give them an STI. Dr Tony Steele is co-founder of the website that carried out the poll and commented on the findings, “Unsafe sex on holiday is a major concern, particularly where women plan ahead to have sex with new partners without using condoms. Women meet men on holiday who are complete strangers. They may know almost nothing about the men they meet, and having sex without contraception is a sure-fire way to increase the chances of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.”

Even in the slightly older age group, women over 30 said they were still embarrassed to discuss the topic of contraception with prospective new sexual partners. Interestingly, the women aged between 30 to 40 were found to be the age group most likely to have contracted an STI. In the same age group, one in five said they had unprotected sex in the previous three months and they were more likely to have had the morning-after pill.

This study comes at the same time that new statistics have been published, showing the high numbers of STIs in males under 25 years of age, due to unsafe sex amongst both heterosexual and gay men. The Health Protection Agency said there has been a significant rise in the number of infections, with genital herpes rising to 31,154 cases compared to 29,794 last year. Moreover, syphilis now stands at 2,915 cases in comparison to 2,650 last year and gonorrhoea saw the largest increase in new cases, with the figure rising from 16,835 to a staggering 20,965. Although chlamydia cases appeared to decrease by 4%, this was attributed to fewer young adults actually being screened for it. The HPA have also stressed just how important it is that men always use a condom, either with casual or new sexual partners.

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we offer a wide range of condoms such as the highly popular Durex Performax Intense. This particular condom benefits both partners. It contains a lubricant – benzocaine 5%, which will prolong his climax, whilst the outside of the condom is ribbed and dotted to heighten her orgasm. On top of this we have a huge range of different condoms in our ever-growing chemist shop such as Durex Play Vibrations, Skins Ultra-Thin and many more, all at fantastic prices. For women, we offer the contraceptive pill Dianette from as little as £9.99 per month, which is capable of preventing you from falling pregnant by working in three ways: by preventing an egg being released from your ovaries; by making the fluid (mucus) in your cervix thicker, which makes it more difficult for sperm to enter the womb; and by preventing the lining of your womb thickening enough for an egg to grow in it. Not only is Dianette a contraceptive, it can also be taken by women for combating acne, hirsutism and for the treatment of female hair loss.