2,338 people contracted the disease between January and May
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/16
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
(Getty Images photo)
Between January and May, 2,338 people were confirmed to have contracted the sexually transmitted disease, representing 37.3 percent growth from the same period last year. Figures for the January-May period over the past five years are 1,726 (2016); 1,943 (2017); 1,719 (2018); 1,703 (2019); and 2,338 (2020).
Among the patients, 202 were women and 2,136 were men, according to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Male cases saw a 34.4 percent rise at an annual rate, while female cases posted a staggering 77.2 percent year-on-year spike.
The reasons behind the surge could be unprotected sex and having multiple sex partners, said Lin Yung-ching (林詠青), a physician at the Taiwan CDC. Around 75.6 percent of the confirmed cases so far this year occurred in the 20 to 39 age group. [FULL STORY]
