A young adult is diagnosed with an STI every four minutes in England, shocking new figures reveal

Health officials have released shocking figures that reveal a young adult is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) every four minutes in England.

Public Health England (PHE) said there were 144,000 cases of chlamydia or gonorrhoea diagnosed among people aged 15 to 24 last year – the equivalent of almost 400 a day.

The figures were released as PHE launched its Protect Against STIs campaign highlighting the increased likelihood of contracting a life-changing STI if people have sex without a condom.

Across all age groups there were 420,000 diagnoses of STIs in England last year, PHE said.

Dr Hamish Mohammed, principal scientist for STI epidemiology at PHE, said: ‘Young people are more likely to be diagnosed with an STI than people aged 25 and older.

‘STIs present a real threat to young people, and without using condoms young people are putting themselves and their partners at risk of getting an STI.’

TV doctor and GP, Sara Kayat, added: ‘Rates of STIs remain high in young people, and we want to make sure people know that the best way to protect themselves from getting an STI, is to use a condom.

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‘Often STIs don’t have any symptoms, with seven in 10 cases of chlamydia in women and around half of cases in men symptomless, and they can have serious consequences.

‘You can easily contract an STI or pass one on without even knowing it so, as I tell my patients, make sure you use a condom.’

Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson, who is joining PHE for their campaign, said: ‘We’re not talking about safe sex or normalising the use of condoms enough and finding out all the facts about STIs has taught me so much, which I want to let everyone know about too, so we can limit the spread of STIs.

‘The most shocking thing I’ve learnt is that some STIs are symptomless and that some are actually becoming harder to treat – that’s scary.

‘The best thing I’ve learnt is that if you’re under the age of 25 you can get condoms for free by just looking online for a free condom finder; I’m spreading that message far and wide.

‘There’s really no excuse for people not to use condoms and we should all feel empowered to use them and to see condoms as a normal part of a healthy sex life.’