Seemingly Islington is not the place to be if you want to avoid contracting STIs. The London borough has the highest rate of herpes in the entire country and furthermore the area is one that is quite badly affected by soaring numbers of other sexually transmitted infections.
In 2010, 178 cases of herpes were reported in every 100,000 people. The area also has the third highest rate of gonorrhoea in the country, which has increased by an alarming 26% since 2009. Chlamydia is the most common infection affecting 584 people per 100,000 and it is among the top seven worst areas for syphilis and genital warts. These figures are only the recorded numbers of people presenting at a sexual health clinic – the actual rate of infection will be much higher.
Workers at the sexual health clinic on Holloway Road say that sexually transmitted infection rates are higher in areas that are less well-off and according to them, youth sexual health education programmes in the area have been cut so they were not surprised by these dramatic increases.
The STI rate is 50% higher in London than it is in the rest of England. Despite the small drop in the level of Chlamydia infections detected in the last 12 months, the message is still not getting across and people are still having unprotected sex. Given that some infections are symptomless, many people are walking around with an infection without even knowing it.