Algoma Public Health's urging everyone to "share Valentines, not STIs".
As this week marks "Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week" in Canada, the local health unit says it's "promoting knowledge, conversation, and resources to improve community health", emphasizing the importance of sexual health "as a key part of our overall well-being, including our abilities to develop healthy relationships and express who we are".
Acknowledging "it may be uncomfortable to talk about sexually transmitted infections", Infectious Diseases Manager Jonathon Bouma says they're "more common that people think, including here in the Algoma District", with chlamyida "the most common reportable bacterial STI in Algoma" at a rate of 226 cases per 100,000 people last year, though cases of gonorrhea have increased over the past two years to a rate of 75 per 100,000 people last year - nearly five times higher than in 2020 - and cases of infectious syphilis hit a 10-year high last year at a rate of 13 per 100,000 people, nearly five times higher than in 2020.
APH warns that many STIs have few or no noticeable symptoms, suggesting routine testing at least once a year as "a great way to check in on our health".