Almost 20 children aged 14 and under have been reported as testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease in Ireland so far this year.
Some 18 kids in the 0-14 age cohort have been reported as catching an STI between January and August 14.
The information was revealed in new figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre in its weekly report of HIV and STI cases released today.
According to the data, the majority of young people contracted one type of sexually transmitted disease.
Almost 78%, or 14 out of 18 juveniles, were reported as contracting chlamydia in the year to date.
The second most common STI is herpes, with two under-14s catching this, followed by gonorrhoea and syphilis with one case apiece.
In the 15 to 19 age group, there have been 515 sexually transmitted diseases reported so far this year.
Again, the majority (75%) contracted chlamydia, followed by herpes and gonorrhoea.
So far in 2021, there have been a total of 6,471 cases of HIV or sexually transmitted infections across all age groups.
The age bracket with the most reported cases is 20-24 (1,948), followed by 25-29 (1,438), and 30-34 (1,092).
A total of 210 HIV infections have been recorded in Ireland so far this year.
The overall figures for January until mid-August this year mark a decrease of 1.4% compared to the same period in 2021.
The total number of STIs reported in children aged 14 and under accounts for just 0.28% of all cases.
However, commenting on the figures, Monaghan GP Illona Duffy said the number recorded in those aged 14 and under was worrying.
“These are shocking figures and to hear that there are children under the age of 14 who have been diagnosed with a sexual transmitted disease is a cause for concern,” she told Newstalk.
“My presumption would be these are children who have been taken, perhaps, into care and been examined and one would hope are now being cared for because one must remember it is illegal for anyone to have sex with children of that age.”
