New figures have suggested that men are twice as likely as women to test positive for chlamydia, but are significantly less likely to get tested and treated for it.
Lloyds Pharmacy have released the statistics after commissioning a survey to test the sexes' different attitudes to sexual health. The survey appeared to show that men are far more cavalier about their sexual health, with 13% reporting that they had had unprotected sex with more than one person during the last five years. Only 7% of women admitted to the same thing.
Similar figures showed that 13% of men tested positive for chlamydia, compared with 6% of women. However, though they are statistically more likely to have a positive test, nearly three quarters of the men surveyed said that they had never had an STD test.
Lloyds have suggested than men are likely to wait to have a test until they notice symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection, meaning that it is likely that many men are carrying an infection but are unaware. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea can be present in someone’s body but not produce any symptoms. In men this is unusual with gonorrhoea however, which tends to cause symptoms in 90% of men who are infected.
If left untreated, both infections can cause long-term problems, including infertility.