Charities said the ready availability of online pornography meant thousands of
schoolchildren who have just reached their teens are getting their sex
education online.
Over the last three years, 16,707 children under the age of 16 have been
diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections.
That is equal to 15 children being diagnosed with STIs every single day.
The figures were released by Public Health England under the Freedom of
Information Act.
Doctors fear there may be far more cases as many youngsters will be too
ashamed or embarrassed to seek medical help. Others may not realise have a
problem as some infections, such as Chlamydia which can lead to infertility,
often do not have any symptoms.
Experts said many of the children aged under 13 who were treated for
infections could have contracted them from sexual abuse.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of STI surveillance at Public Health England (PHE)
said: “Data on infections primarily transmitted through sexual contact are
routinely collected, across all age groups, by PHE.â€
She said rates were highest in those under 25, and while these infections can
often be simple to diagnose and treat, if left untreated they can have
serious health consequences.
She added: “With regards to those under 13 years old, the number of infections
reported each year is very low. In this age group, using the term ‘sexually
transmitted infection’ is problematic as it is very rare for children to be
sexually active at this age.
“Moreover recent research suggests most of the infections reported are not
acquired sexually; and of the few that may have been, sexual abuse was
implicated. There is national guidance in place for health professionals to
follow in these cases.’
Of the 90 children aged under 13 who were diagnosed with STIs last year, 44
had Chlamydia, 32 had genital warts and a small undisclosed number had
gonorrhoea and herpes.
In each of the last three years, girls made up around 87 per cent of the
children diagnosed with STIs.
Overall there were 5,354 under 16s treated for sexually transmitted infections
in 2011 and 5,967 in 2010.
Although the numbers have fallen over the last three years, critics said this
could be because children are becoming more reluctant to seek help if they
think they have got an STI.
Among older children STIs are far more prevalent – there were 10,318 children
aged 16 who sought treatment last year and 17,810 aged 17.