Recorded HIV and STI cases have seen significant increases since this time last year as testing facilities reopen.
From January 1 to March 12 2022, there have been 107 cases of HIV recorded nationally compared to 67 cases during the same period last year, a 59.7% increase.
75 of the 107 HIV cases recorded so far in 2022 were from the HSE East area of Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.
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There have also been big increases in recorded cases of STI's.
In 2021, there were 320 cases of gonorrhoea recorded nationally during the first 10 weeks of the year.
In the Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare areas, there has been 411 recorded cases of gonorrhoea so far in 2021.
Cases of chlamydia have also majorly increased, up 45.8% nationally compared to this time last year.
Executive Director of HIV Ireland Stephen O'Hare said the increase in cases is largely down to wider testing in the community.
He told Dublin Live: "Certainly during the Covid-19 period there was a much greater restriction on the availability of testing and screenings for HIV and STI's.
"So across the board we saw drops in the recorded cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV.
"The anticipation was, when those services opened up again or became more available, you would see an increase in cases, just compared to statistics from the previous year where they were probably artificially low.
"So because people couldn't get tested, there were probably artificially low statistics in relation to what was circulating in the community. So we did expect to see an increase."
Mr O'Hare said that the recently introduced HSE STI self-testing kits means testing is more accessible and available than before.
"I will say, with HIV, it has been quite a significant increase on last year in relation to the number of cases we have seen recorded so far this year", he said.
"Some of that can be attributed to the fact that people weren't getting tested or were maybe testing later because of lockdowns and various restrictions relating to Covid-19.
"But some of it is probably the fact that there is more testing now available. As well as the clinical testing that is going on... there's also now self testing.
"The HSE introduced an STD self test kit called SH24, so you can now order a test online and take it at home.
"So you're probably seeing an increased availability of options so that might be driving some of the increases that we're seeing in the numbers.
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