STIs are ravaging the UK and ‘silver swipers’ are one of many the explanation why
STIs are on the rise across all age groups with dating apps, changing sexual behaviour and “silver swipers” among the reasons why.
Offical data revealed 401,800 cases were recorded last year, including in children as young as 13, up by almost a third from 2020. This includes skyrocketing levels of gonorrhoea which is at its highest ever peak.
Dr Emma Harding-Esch, an epidemiologist and STI expert at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine believes digital dating and sexting could be behind the high rates of STIs among young people.
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Alarmingly, kids aged 13 to 14 have seen the sharpest rise year-on-year, with numbers up by 19.5%, while 2023 rates in 15 to 19 year olds and 20 to 24-year-olds were below pre-pandemic levels but remain high, reports MailOnline.
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Dr Harding-Esch said: “Dating apps have enabled people to find sexual partners locally more easily and quickly, meaning there is a much wider pool of potential sexual partners than for previous generations.
“These apps, combined with international travel, further increase the geographical and numerical sexual network.”
Pensioners aged 65 and over who are also using dating apps, the so called “silver swipers”, may be behind the STI spike in older people, which saw the second highest increase last year. The digital dating revolution enables older people to meet new sexual partners more easily than before as well.
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Professor Daniel Richardson, an expert in sexual health and HIV medicine at Brighton University said changing sexual appetites and habits could also be behind the rise.
Speaking to the Telegraph about the sexual habits of young people, he said: “People are having more sex with drugs which lowers their inhibitions and they are more fluid about their behaviour in terms of having sex with either the opposite sex or the same sex.”
But its not just young Brits who are switching things up in the bedroom. Britons have seen a “broadening of sexual repertoires” over the past 30 years, according to the British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes & Lifestyles, MailOnline reports, which reveals non-monogamous relationships have become more accepted.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The survey also revealed that the number of partners a person has over their lifetime has also increased.
Dr Harding-Esch said: “There have been reports of an increase in the number and diversity of partners.
“It’s therefore harder to target certain population groups with messaging and interventions.”
Rising divorce rates could mean that people over 50 are now looking for new partners after a long period of commitment.
Older people who have had vasectomies or have gone through menopause may not think they need to practice safe sex, as condom use may be associated with preventing pregnancy not STIs.
Older people not seeking sexual health advice, out of embarrassment or naivety, may also be transmitting STIs, and people not alerting partners of an STI diagnosis also contributes to the spread of infection.
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