Background: Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection in Canada. Between 1991 and 1997, Canada experienced a sharp decline in the rates of reported cases of gonorrhea, followed by a steady incline.
Objective: To identify trends in reported cases of gonorrhea in Canada from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2012.
Methods: Notifiable disease reports were submitted to the Public Health Agency of Canada by provincial and territorial epidemiological units and data were summarized by age and sex.
Results: Between 2003 and 2012, the rate of reported cases of gonorrhea increased by 38.9%, from 26.0 to 36.2 per 100,000. Over this time frame, a greater relative rate increase was observed in females, though rates of gonorrhea increased in both sexes and across all age groups. In 2012, as in previous years, the rate of reported cases of gonorrhea was higher in males than females (41.4 vs. 31.0 per 100,000). Females between the ages of 15 and 24 years and males between the ages of 20 and 29 years accounted for the highest rates of gonorrhea in 2012.
Conclusion: In Canada, as in many countries, gonorrhea is on the rise, especially in young adults. This increase in rates of reported cases is in part due to improved diagnosis through nucleic acid amplification (NAAT) testing and may also be affected by growing gonococcal resistance to many available treatments.