According to the ECDC, both gonorrhoea and syphilis reached their highest levels in over 10 years in 2024, but Gonorrhoea hit 106,331 cases, a 303% increase since 2015, while syphilis more than doubled in the same period to 45,557.

Surge in Infections

The health agency said “widening gaps in testing and prevention” were partly behind the surge in transmission and called for urgent action. Bruno Ciancio. The head of the agency’s Directly Transmitted and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases unit, highlighted the severe complications these infections can cause, such as chronic pain, infertility, and in the case of syphilis, problems with the heart or nervous system.

He also noted that congenital syphilis cases,where infections pass directly to newborns—had nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024. “Protecting your sexual health remains straightforward. Use condoms with new or multiple partners, and get tested if you have symptoms,” Ciancio said.

Country-Specific Trends

Spain had the highest number of confirmed gonorrhoea and syphilis cases among participating European countries in 2024, with 37,169 and 11,556 cases respectively; the ECDC said men who had sex with men remained the most disproportionately affected group, showing the steepest long-term rises in gonorrhoea and syphilis. It also reported that heterosexual women of reproductive age saw large increases in syphilis cases.

While chlamydia was still the most commonly reported bacterial infection overall, cases had fallen 6% since 2015 to 213,443. In the UK, the Health Security Agency reported 71,802 gonorrhoea cases and 9,535 syphilis cases in 2024, along with 168,889 chlamydia diagnoses in the same 12 months.

Preventive Measures and Vaccination

The UK rolled out a gonorrhoea vaccine in 2025 after it hit a record 85,000 cases in 2023. Gonorrhoea symptoms can include pain, unusual discharge, and inflammation of the genitals, but in some cases, no symptoms emerge. Like gonorrhoea, it can be avoided by using condoms and treated with antibiotics. Both can cause serious problems if left untreated.