Malta had the highest rate of syphilis infections in the EU in 2021 and 2022, according to a report published on Thursday.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) which causes flu-like symptoms and sores on the body. If left untreated, it can lead to serious health complications including heart failure and seizures.
In 2022, there were 127 cases of syphilis in Malta, giving an infection rate of 24.4 per 100,000 people – the highest across the bloc and almost three times the EU average.
The second and third highest rates were recorded in Luxembourg (23.4) and Ireland (16.6), respectively, according to the report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
This was the second year in a row Malta topped the list, with the country recording an even higher rate of 32.2 the year before, equivalent to 166 cases. Luxembourg and Ireland were second and third that year too, registering rates of 29.1 and 14.3, respectively.
In total, there were 35,391 cases of the infection across the EU in 2022.
However, despite Malta topping the EU for rates of syphilis, the country recorded no cases of congenital syphilis – a form of infection which is passed on to an unborn baby by the mother during pregnancy.
There were no recorded cases of the infection in Malta from 2018 to 2022, the five years presented in the study.
According to the ECDC, its Annual Epidemiological Reports – five reports studying instances of different STIs on the continent – reveal a troubling surge in cases of syphilis, gonorrhoea, and chlamydia.
The agency said that in 2022, the most recent year covered by the reports, there had been a “significant increase” in the number of reported cases compared to the year before, with syphilis rising by 34%, gonorrhoea rising by 48% and chlamydia by 16%.
It said the trends underscored the “urgent need for immediate action” to prevent further cases, with ECDC director Andrea Ammon stressing the EU must prioritise sexual health education, expand access to testing and treatment services and combat the stigma associated with STIs.
The agency’s other reports published in the same series show Malta recorded the fifth-highest rate of gonorrhoea in 2022, with 43.6 cases per 100,000. The highest rates were recorded in Ireland (75.3), Luxembourg (73.6), Denmark (66.9) and Spain (48.3) while the EU average was 17.9.
Meanwhile, the country recorded a lower-than-average rate of chlamydia, with 54.9 cases per 100,000 people – significantly less than the EU average of 87.9.
Malta reported only nine cases of lymphogranuloma venereum – an STI caused by a rare form of chlamydia – between 2018 and 2022.