HUNTER health authorities have urged Newcastle residents to have regular sexual health checks and to practise safe sex following a 355 per cent increase in gonorrhoea in the past year.
Forty-one cases of the sexually transmitted disease have been diagnosed in 2010 compared to nine for the same period last year.
There were 29 cases in 2008 and 13 cases in 2007.
The infection, which can lead to infertility, has been increasingly seen in teens and men and women in their 20s, Hunter New England Health director of sexual health Treeny Ooi said.
"Men who have sex with men have been identified as a group particularly at risk, however heterosexual people have also been infected," said Dr Ooi.
"Gonorrhoea often causes no symptoms and people may not be aware that they are infected."
The symptoms of gonorrhoea - when present - include discharge from the penis or vagina and pain when passing urine or during bowel motions.
"Untreated gonorrhoea can cause serious and permanent health problems," Dr Ooi said.
"It can cause painful infection in the testicles or fallopian tubes that connect the womb to the ovaries and may result in infertility."
The test for gonorrhoea is a simple process, Dr Ooi says, and can be arranged by seeing a GP or at a sexual health clinic.
Dr Ooi said using a condom during sex offered good protection, and people who were sexually active should have routine tests for STIs.
"There is a high awareness about the benefits of condom use but it can be a very different story when it comes time to put it into practice," she said.
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