Sexually transmitted infections in Europe 1990–2009

This first surveillance report from ECDC on sexually transmitted infections (STI) covers the years 1990 to 2009. It aims to describe basic trends and epidemiological features of the five STI under EU surveillance: syphilis, congenital syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and lymphogranuloma venereum. There are marked differences in trends across Europe. The overall trend in gonorrhoea and syphilis across the EU/EEA over the past decade appeared to be slightly decreasing while the overall trend in chlamydia is continuously increasing, reflecting improvements in testing and screening practices in a number of countries.