More than 220 people were admitted to Irish hospitals in the space of four years because of sexually transmitted illnesses.

20 of the patients were under 16 years of age.

According to details released under the Freedom of Information, 224 people had a main diagnosis of a sexually transmitted infection or disease when they were discharged from an Irish hospital between 2015 and 2018.

A total of 103 were male and 121 were female, and they include 20 children.

The South/Southwest Hospital Group had the most, at 51, and the Ireland East group had 50.

All patients were seen as inpatients.

“I think it’s always concerning when you see a number as high as that for inpatient admissions, for really what you would expect to be able to be dealt with on an outpatient level,” said Waterford’s Ian Power, chief executive of SpunOut.ie, the national youth organisation.

“Obviously, for some people, the physiological reaction can be different to others.

“I guess really the important thing that we’re reminding everybody at this point and time is to get checked, to go for regular screens.”

The main types of STIs that led to hospital admissions were anogenital herpes, syphilis and the gonococcal infection.