Baroness Youngasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many school-age children of 16 or below are known to be suffering from sexually transmitted disease; what are the comparative figures for 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1998–99; and what is the annual cost of their treatment. [HL2632]
178WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)The available data based on diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections in genito-urinary medicine clinics in England are as follows. Information on annual treatment costs is not collected separately.
Primary and secondary syphilis Sex and age group Year of Diagnosis <16 16–19 Male Female Total Male Female Total 1970 2 2 4 52 37 89 1980 0 3 3 63 56 119 1990 3 2 5 5 7 12 1998 0 0 0 5 3 8
Gonorrhoea Sex and age group Year of Diagnosis <16 16–19 Male Female Total Male Female Total 1970 74 374 448 3,714 4,674 8,388 1980 94 305 399 4,288 6,216 10,504 1990 45 121 166 1,327 1,891 3,218 1998 36 155 191 984 1,433 2,417
First episode genital herpes* Sex and age group Year of Diagnosis <16 16–19 Male Female Total Male Female Total 1990 17 73 90 382 1,244 1,626 1998 11 93 104 312 1,797 2,109
First episode of genital warts* Sex and age group Year of Diagnosis <16 16–19 Male Female Total Male Female Total 1990 75 291 366 2,753 6,517 9,270 1998 91 425 516 2,719 8,290 11,009
Uncomplicated genital chlamydial infection* Sex and age qroup Year of Diagnosis <16 16–19 Male Female Total Male Female Total 1990 44 252 296 1,574 4,788 6,362 1998 53 553 606 2348 8,294 10,642 * Data not available for 1970 and 1980. Data source: KC60.
HIV infection
Three cases of HIV infection acquired by sexual exposure were reported in 1998 for the five to 16-year age group. Comparative figures for the earlier years are not available.
Source: National Paediatric HIV/AIDS Surveillance Register and Survey of Prevalent HIV Infections Diagnosed.