Data revealed by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) on Thursday, indicating an increase in sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea, in Portugal and Europe, has led the Directorate General of Health (DGS) to consider changing the current rules on non-disclosure. About the identity of patients diagnosed with these diseases.
The news makes the headlines Newspaper This Friday, it is based on the words of the Director General of Health herself, Rita Sa Machado, who acknowledged this hypothesis in statements to the newspaper. “Right now, we have a problem with concealing the identity of patients with sexually transmitted diseases. It is a sensitive topic, but we have to evolve and start putting the issues on the table,” the newspaper quoted the person in charge as saying.
What is at stake is trying to identify potentially dangerous contacts, interrupt chains of transmission, and provide data on the infected person to public health doctors, which is what already happens with some infectious diseases with mandatory notification, such as measles, which reminds us J.NBut not with STDs.
The rules in force, under the guidance of the General Directorate of Security itself, stipulate that when a person is diagnosed with one of these diseases by a family doctor or another person, the National Epidemic Surveillance System (SINAVE) must be reported, but the patient's personal data, such as name or date, is hidden. Birth, unless the patient authorizes her participation in the system. Now, the sensitivity of the issue, especially since extramarital affairs are sometimes at stake, led to this disclosure not being made public. DGS is considering changing this rule.
The latest data from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which refers to notifications made in 2022, indicates an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, especially in the age group between 20 and 24 years. Notifications at the European level indicate an increase in cases of gonorrhea by 48%, syphilis by 34%, and chlamydia by 16%, which prompted the center to warn of the “urgent need to take immediate measures” to prevent new cases of transmission and stop the growth.
In Portugal, reporting of gonorrhea cases increased from 1,252 in 2021 to 2,253 in 2022; Chlamydia numbers rose from 914 to 1,501; Syphilis rose from 1144 cases to 1534. Other data indicated by the European Center for Disease Control, with regard to our country, indicate an increase in cases of lymphogranuloma genitalium (LGV), which rose from 55 cases in 2021 to 63 in 2022, A slight decrease in the number of cases. – Congenital syphilis (transmission of infection from mother to fetus), which decreased from 15 to 14 cases.
