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Gonorrhea, chlamydia increasing among Alberta youth

Last Updated: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 | 6:13 PM ET

CBC News

Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise among young people in Alberta, according to new figures released by the province's health department Monday.

The statistics for males and females between the age of 15 and 19 showed an almost two-fold increase in the rate of gonorrhea among males and females from 2002 to 2007 and a similar rise in the cases of chlamydia among young men.

There were 112 cases of gonorrhea per 100,000 males last year, compared to 53 per 100,000 thousand in 2002.

For young women, the rate was 208 cases per 100,000, compared to 130 cases per 100,000 in 2002.

Chlamydia rates for young men jumped from 282 per 100,000 to 397 cases per 100,000 during that five-year period.

'When I'm in the classroom, when I'm talking about this, a lot of youth are shocked that you can get STDs ... through oral [sex].'—Brian Parker, Options Sexual Health Association

Chlamydia rates for young women remained fairly constant over the period, at about 1,900 cases per 100,000.

Health experts attribute the spike to a growing number of young people participating in oral sex.

"When I'm in the classroom, when I'm talking about this, a lot of youth are shocked that you can get STDs, including those two, through oral [sex]," Brian Parker, an educator with Options Sexual Health Association in Edmonton told CBC News.

"I know sometimes their jaws drop."

Even though STDs are increasing among young people, there has been no change in the sex education students are getting at school, Parker said.

"It is one of those subjects that's kind of left to the end of the school year, and teachers can either decide to have an expert come in or not," he said.

With files from Erik Denison

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