Epidemiology and current control of sexually transmitted infections. The role of STI clinics.

The burden of disease from sexually transmitted infections (STI) undermines sexual and reproductive health and the health of newborn infants. The presence of some STI facilitates the transmission of others, such as HIV, and cause cellular changes that precede some types of cancer. For all these reasons STIs are a first order uncontrolled public health problem. In Spain, gonococcal infection has been on rising since the beginning of 2000, while syphilis has remained stable at high levels since 2011. Both infections are more common in males. Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common STI, and principally affects females between the ages of of 20 and 40. STI units are an essential instrument to tackle this problem. They deal with populations that are particularly vulnerable to these infections and are essential for their control by means of interventions that reduce their transmission efficiency and infectivity duration. They are also the principal source of epidemiological information about these infections.