The National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) has reported a dramatic rise in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
In its annual report published today, the centre recorded a 22 per cent rise in the incidence of HIV cases for 2002. The report said the majority of new cases were diagnosed among heterosexuals aged between 20 and 40.
The report also shows a 9.4 per cent increase in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) such as syphilis, Hepatitis B and Chlamydia trachomatis for 2001.
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The NDSC's director, Dr Darina O'Flanagan said: "The continuing rise in the notification of sexually transmitted diseases and increases in reports of HIV infections are a matter for concern."
Dr O'Flanagan said: "The rising incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is consistent with an increase in unsafe sex and mirrors the situation in many other European countries."
She said: "Tragically, we are once again seeing infants born with congenital syphilis".
Public health specialist and one of the report authors, Dr Mary Cronin, said while the figures for HIV and other STIs were "quite dramatic" they were not unexpected.
She said on one level this reflected an increased level of travel and migration between countries.
In Ireland's case she also drew attention to changing attitudes towards sex and the level of alcohol consumption.
During 2002, there were 364 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection, bringing the cumulative total of cases reported in Ireland for 2002 to 3,009.
Over 51 per cent of the new cases were diagnosed in people who were born in sub-Saharan Africa.
The report documented a 506 per cent increase in the incidence of syphilis in 2001 which Dr Cronin said was largely confined to Dublin's gay and bisexual population.
On the positive side, the new figures revealed a dramatic decline in the incidence of Meningitis C in Ireland.
The report shows there were no deaths from the diseases in 2002 compared to an average of six deaths in the 1990s.
This can be explained by a successful vaccination programme over the past three years, effectively eliminating the disease.
Before the programme began in 2000, there was an average of 130 cases a year. In 2002, there were just three cases.
