Epidemic hits tourist capital

Queenstown is fast becoming the New Zealand capital for sexually transmitted diseases, says NZ Aids Foundation health adviser Steve Attwood.

"There is a New Zealand-wide STD epidemic and Queenstown is high on the list," Mr Attwood said.

Queenstown Sexual Health Clinic spokeswoman Dr Kathryn Smith agreed, saying disease rates in Queenstown were increasing.

"There are extreme numbers of young people with chlamydia.

"We see people under 25 at the clinic. Most of them are young transient people and many have been carrying the infection for years without realising," Dr Smith said.

It was incredible how ignorant some people still were about STDs and having unprotected sex.

"To have unprotected sex with someone you hardly know is stupid. People who have had unprotected sex should get themselves checked."

The high incidence of STDs in Queenstown was chiefly because it was a popular holiday resort, a party town and an adventure destination popular with young people where sex was part of the play.

The problem was that people on holiday often threw away all the sensible rules they usually lived by, Dr Smith said.

Mr Attwood said too many people were still complacent about HIV-Aids. They saw 20 years ago as the "bad old days" of the HIV-Aids scare.

"Most people with HIV are now leading normal lives with the new drugs available," Dr Smith said.

Mr Attwood: "They are out there like everyone else."

So it was more dangerous than people realised not to use condoms, they said.

Contracting more than one sexually transmitted disease was becoming more common and this meant someone with one infection was at higher risk of contracting the HIV virus.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Health