In 2017 25,130 cases of chlamydia was registered in Norway, and the capital led with the highest number of registered cases in relation to population.
368,953 Norwegians were tested for Chlamydia in Norway last year. Of these, 25,130 cases of the sexual transmitted disease were diagnosed, shows the annual clamydia statistics prepared by the National Institute of Public Health.
The highest reported incidences were in Oslo, relative to the population, which is a change from earlier where Troms and Finnmark dominated the statistics. For a long time, the two northernmost counties had a diagnosis of chlamydia of up to twice the country average, but they have been decreasing since 2008.
“The differences in the observed occurrences of clamydia in certain counties may be due to regional differences in sexual behavior, unequal health services and the extent of the chlamydia testing,” explains Hilde Kløvstad, Department Director of the Public Health Institute on the organization’s website.
The infection is mainly affecting people in the age group 15 to 24 years. By 2017, 59 percent of the diagnosed women, and persons under the age of 25, accounted for 66 percent of the cases. Kløvstad points out, however, people over 30 years old account for an increasing proportion of those who are being tested.
By 2017, 29 of the registered cases of chlamydia were of the somewhat more harsh variant of the bacterium called lymphogranuloma venerum (LGV). The common chlamydia bacteria has little risk of spreading through the body, while LGV will usually spread through the lymphatic system.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
