BENDIGONIANS have been urged to get checked for sexually transmissible infections after testing numbers plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
People with undiagnosed STIs - often asymptomatic - could face severe complications, health workers have warned.
Bendigo Community Health Services sexual health nurse Mary-Anne McCluskey said many people had avoided clinics during the pandemic unless they had a specific problem.
Ms McClusky urged community members to get tested for STIs, especially if they were having casual sex.
She said lower testing rates meant asymptomatic STI cases - which were common - were not being identified.
Ms McCluskey said common STIs such as syphilis and gonorrhea could affect fertility for both men and women.
She said undiagnosed syphilis could be catastrophic for pregnant women, possibly causing miscarriage, stillbirth or severe health problems for their baby.
Ms McClusky said testing was easy, free, private and confidential.
She said sexual health clinics could help if people were uncomfortable talking to their regular doctor about the issue.
"People really struggle to talk about their sexual health with their regular doctor, it's a common thing, especially if it's their family doctor," she said.
"It's just about breaking down the stigma and looking at it as part of your general health, rather than seeing it as something that's controversial or embarrassing."
OTHER NEWS:
Ms McCluskey said rates of STIs such as gonorrhea and syphilis had increased notable in BCHS's region in the past few years.
Statewide infectious syphilis cases have increased by 475 per cent since 2010.
Ms McClusky said hookup mobile apps such as Tinder had probably in part driven the rise in STI rates, as people changed sexual partners more frequently.
STI testing rates in some parts of the state dropped by as much as 68 per cent between September and January.
Notification of STIs fell by about 20 per cent during the same period, which health authorities say is likely the result of people delaying health checks during the pandemic.
STI testing is available at a local general practitioner, family planning clinic, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, community health services and specialist sexual health clinics.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.