Sexually transmitted diseases are soaring ? with new infections leaping from 471 in 2003 to 655 last year.

There was a large rise in chlamydia infections which jumped from 273 to 457 while gonorrhoea went up from 44 to 65.

There were 11 new HIV infections reported with ten males contracting the deadly disease and one female, according to Health Department figures.

Five of the cases came from homosexual contact. Heterosexual contact accounted for four infections while in two cases intravenous drug use was to blame. Five new cases of full blown AIDS were reported ? four of the victimes were male. Heterosexual contact was blamed for three of the cases. New herpes infections went up slightly from 33 to 37 while NSU went down from 120 to 90.

The Health Department said part of the reason for the increase in chlamydia and gonorrhoea is due to the introduction of more sensitive testing in early 2004. This week Police said girls as young as 13 were contracting incurable sexual diseases after being preyed upon by older males.

Juvenile Domestic Crime Unit head Peter Giles said he knew of a 13-year-old girl who got herpes and another who had chlamydia.

He told : ?I have not dealt with a child with AIDS ? not yet.?

Underage sex had other human costs he warned with at least three teenagers have had abortions this year after being impregnated by an older male.

?We have dealt with a number of cases of girls having babies and 13 and 14.?

?We know of instances where girls are sexually active at 12. A lot of it is girls looking for acceptance within their peer group in a misdirected way.?

Underage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, poverty, becoming a burden on their family could all ensue from early intercourse, he said.

?There is an effect on their reputation and their family. It?s a societal issue.

?To engage in sexual intercourse should not be considered a past-time or a way of saying to everybody I am a nice person.?

Teen girls were using sex to get in with the in crowd while there seemed to be no stigma attached to out of wedlock babies said Det. Insp. Giles. ?There also seems to be in Bermuda a certain rite of passage into womanhood where girls have babies. A lot of it is teenagers saying ?I want to have a baby and I want it with guy?.?

He said Bermuda compared to other western jurisdictions in prevalence of child abuse.

?But we have quite a hefty number of cases of young girls having sexual intercourse with an older people.?

In some cases the girl might initiate the encounter.

?But regardless is still a crime for the male to have sex with a female under 16.

?The intent of the law is to protect young women from themselves so they don?t have sex at a tender age.?

The male risks a 20-year sentence for having sex with a girl under 14. If the girl is over 14 but under 16 then offence could net a 15-year sentence.

Det. Con. Frank Foggo said girls were usually preyed upon by men in the 16-25 age group and that some of the girls? mothers gave their tacit consent.

But they run the risk of prosecution and a 15-year jail sentence for allowing a minor to have unlawful carnal knowledge on their premises.

Det Insp. Giles said: ?A lot of people may not understand that. We are aware there are people who allow young persons to engage in sexual intercourse in their household and do not do anything about it.?

However the hard-to-prove law has been seldom, if ever used.

However some parents are ignorant of what goes on in their house because men sneak through bedroom windows at the invitation of their under-age lovers. ?We have quite a number of cases that happen that way.?

Parents needed to ram home the risks and consequences of underage sex to their children said Det. Insp. Giles.

Although easily treated Chlamydia can go undetected and can cause serious problems including infertility in women and penile discharge in men and it can infect newborn babies of infected mothers.

The major symptoms are reoccurring painful blisters or open sores and the disease affects more than 60 million Americans. Women who acquire genital herpes during pregnancy can transmit the virus to their babies who if untreated can die or become mentally retarded.

Results in bleeding, discharges and painful burning sensations in women who can be made infertile by the disease while men suffer pain and discharges.