Map reveals Britain’s STI hotspots where locals fear catching everything from chlamydia to genital warts

NEW data has revealed Britain’s sexually transmitted disease (STI) ‘hotspots’, where locals fear catching everything from chlamydia to genital warts.

LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor’s annual Safe Sex report also worringly shows one in five sexually active people in Britain openly admit to never using protection.

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As part of the research, experts questioned 1,000 adults, examined online discussions and search stats, as well as NHS figures.

The results aim to “highlight the importance of safe sex and the attitudes surrounding sexually transmitted infections and contraception”.

The report found of those surveyed, sexually active Brits – 41 percent – are having sex once a week on average.

Just one in 12 (eight percent) are having daily sex, and one in six (17 percent) are getting intimate once a month.

Three in five say they have been diagnosed with an STI and one in five admit they never use protection.

According to Google search data, the UK’s most searched for STI in 2024 is chlamydia, averaging at 76,510 searches per month, a 31% increase from its 2023 average.

The STI with the second highest search volume is HIV, followed by gonorrhoea, syphilis and scabies.

Interestingly, scabies is not exclusively transmitted by sexual intercourse.

While scabies is commonly spread via sex, it can also be spread through close physical contact or sharing bedding, clothes, or towels.

The report also broke down which areas are searching for specific STIs the most.

Norwich has seen the most online searches for any such infection, with chlamydia seeing 201 searches per 100,000 people.

The Norfolk city also saw the highest volume of searches for gonorrhoea, with 111 per capita – and 63 searches per capita for HPV, which causes genital warts.

In Birmingham, the biggest worry is HIV, with 129 searches per 100,000 people.

Barrow-in-Furness was named as the UK’s capital for hepititis fears, and Newcastle topped the list for genital herpes (HSV-2) searches.

The report also used AI to sift through Reddit threads to see which STIs seemed to be causing most worry.

Lloydpharmacy Online Doctor GP Dr Bhavini Shah said: “HIV and herpes can be a major source of anxiety as they cannot be completely cured.

“There are, however, medications and treatments available to help manage these conditions.

“If you’re worried you could have contracted HIV in the last 72 hours, you should contact your local sexual health clinic or hospital as soon as possible.”

The doctor added: “Safe sex should be a concern for everybody. Unprotected sex puts you at risk of unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

“If you’re having sex, you should always consider using protection and make sure that you take regular STI tests.”