Sexually transmitted infections (IST) are not the prerogative of young people.
Young adults in their twenties and thirties are generally the most affected by current bacterial ist such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis, but rates in mature and beyond people are increasing in certain parts of Europe.
In its 2024 report, the United Kingdom’s health security agency is a “constant increase” of STI diagnoses in people aged 65 and over in recent years.
In 2023, 1,649 cases of Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Syphilis were diagnosed in the elderly British, compared to 576 in 2014, almost three times more.
In Francethe incidence of gonorrhea and syphilis increased more strongly in people over 50 years than in young adults Between 2021 and 2023. Chlamydia also increased in men over 50, according to public health.
In Denmark, men aged 50 and over experienced one of the highest increases in Gonorrhea case between 2022 and 2023.
In the European Union, people aged 45 and over represented 32 % of all cases of syphilis in 2023.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infections such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis are bacterial STS which can be treated with antibiotics, unlike herpes and HIV, which are permanent viral infections.
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Why do STIs of STI increase in the elderly?
This increase does not seem to want to slow down. According to a study by the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, the number of STI diagnoses should continue to increase in the elderly in England until at least 2040.
The authors of the study said that the causes of this trend were not clear, but that the aging of the population and the growing number of diagnoses could result in an increase in the costs of processing STS in the years to come.
Other experts believe that women often living longer than men, they can seek new partners later in their lives.
In addition, drugs intended to improve sexual performance, such as Viagra, have given certain elderly men the possibility of reconnecting with sexuality later in their lives.
A small study concluded that the elderly can also have little knowledge of how different types of STIs are transmitted or on how to prevent them from spreading, especially since they are immune to the risk of unwanted pregnancies.
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Destigmatize STIs in the elderly
Experts say that health professionals and the public should take into account the needs of the elderly in terms of sexual health.
“It is often wrongly believed that the elderly have no sexual relations, that they do not want to have it or that they cannot have them,” explains Matthew Smith, professor at Texas A & M University in the United States, specializing in the health of the elderly.
“Unfortunately, these false ideas can lead to a lack of communication, to a lack of dialogue with health care providers, to a lack of dialogue with partners on safe sexual practices, such as the use of condoms or the sharing of partners,” he added.
Whether widowed, divorced or simply looking for a companion, the elderly should question their new potential partners about their sexual history, the use of contraception and the screening of STIs – subjects which, according to him, are not necessarily part of the routine in the elderly “.
He added that doctors should also discuss sexual health with their patients, since “we are sexual beings throughout life”.
“This is a subject that we often avoid approaching in conversations,” according to Professor Smith. “There is a little age -related stigma, and everyone does not like to imagine this age group adopting these behaviors.”
