AGI – The “sex disease” that many thought was over has become scary again. In recent years, cases of syphilis they are also growing in Italiawith significant increases between teenagers e young adultswhile the use of condom and thesex education it remains taboo in many schools.
The infectious disease specialist raises the alarm Matteo Bassettiwhich speaks of an “impressive increase in cases” already among 15 and 17 years old and invites us to quickly change course on the prevention and of theinformation. The trend is clear: the sexually transmitted infections are on the rise and the syphilisin particular, is experiencing a new expansion. The data from the latest bulletins show a double-digit growth in diagnoses in just a few years, with an ever-increasing weight among younger groups, often in their first sexual experience.
Antibiotic treatments
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It is not an exotic or distant disease, but abacterial infection which circulates today in places where young people socialize, including high schools, universities, clubs and dating apps. There Syphilis is treated with antibioticsif intercepted in the early stages, but when ignored or underestimated it can cause serious damage at a neurological, cardiovascular level and during pregnancy, with consequences also on the fetus. Bassetti doesn’t mince words in a reel published on his social media, he defines the current one as real alarminserted into an international framework in which the Syphilis is on the rise in many countries, and underlines that Italy is no exception. What worries him are not only the numbers, but the age of the new cases: the infection is increasingly diagnosed in very young people who have recently started having sexual intercourse. In this scenario, the infectious disease specialist insists on one point, it is not a question of committing terrorism, but of remembering that the unprotected sex entails concrete risksand that the condom remains the main tool for defending oneself.
The factors behind the growth in infections
Behind the growth of contagion there is a change in behaviors and in the risk perception. On the one hand, the normalization of casual sex and the use of digital platforms they make relationships with different partners more frequent in a short time; on the other hand, many boys and girls have stopped considering the condom an essential safeguard, especially after the season in which media attention was focused almost exclusively on other health emergencies. In addition, thesex education it is often fragmented or absent, replaced by information collected online, through social media and content that is not always reliable. The result is a generation that experiences sex with more freedom, but with insufficient tools to protect themselves Really.
Proposals for a public response
For the infectious disease specialist you need one public responsenot just individual. Bassetti has been asking for some time information campaigns aim at youngcapable of speaking their language and using the same channels they frequent every day, from social media to video platforms. Among the concrete proposals, there is that of distribution free condoms in schools and meeting places, together with structured courses education on sexuality and affectivityfar from both moralism and banalization. Another piece is thefacilitated access to tests for them sexually transmitted infections. Dedicated clinics, flexible hours, possibility of turning to services designed specifically for under 25without stigma or economic barriers.
Practical advice to reduce the risk
In parallel, experts recall some key steps to reduce risk. Use the condom in relationships with occasional partners or whose serological status is unknown, undergo periodic checks if you have multiple partners, don’t underestimate signs like genital or oral lesions, unusual skin rashessymptoms that appear after a unprotected relationship. The syphilis it can present itself in a subtle way, with phases in which the symptoms are mild or disappear, while continuing to damage the body and favor transmission to others.
A cultural void to fill
L’alarm launched by Bassetti is, after all, an invitation to fill a cultural voideven before healthcare. There syphilis it is often perceived as a disease from another era, linked to black and white images and textbook stories; the reality is that what determines its diffusion today are the people’s daily choicesespecially the younger ones. Talk about sex in an open, informed and non-judgmental way it therefore becomes an act of prevention as much as putting a condom. It is not the past that returns, but the present that asks to be looked at.
