They whisper nervously to each other and cast discreet glances around the room.

A group of teenage girls in tracksuits walk in the door with an air of bravado. One of them is looking for results, but they're not in yet. "I told you we should have rung, " one hisses at her friend as, somewhat deflated, they turn and leave.

This is Guide, the Genital Urinary and Infectious Diseases Clinic at St James's Hospital, Dublin. Here, more than 100 people are being screened every day for STIs and STDs and the demand is overwhelming, with waiting lists of up to eight weeks at a time.

Infections increasing In the week when a sexual health survey published by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency showed that 14% of Irish people do not use a condom when having sex with a new partner, and that nearly half have received no sex education, it comes as no surprise that the incidence of STIs has increased by a staggering 243% since 1998.

"The report verifies what we have been saying for years, " said Dr Derek Freedman, consultant in genitourinary medicine with St James's Hospital. "There has been a huge increase in STIs in both men and women in the last decade and clinics have no resources to match the demand. Men and women of all ages, all social classes, from adolescents to geriatrics, are coming to us to be screened. We just can't cope with the demand."

Most of the people coming to the clinic are suffering from anxiety, rather than an STI, says Freedman. And there is also a lot of "internetitis", where people are receiving inaccurate information from the web and coming to the clinic in a panic. "But for every person who comes in wondering if they have an STI, there are another 100 people at risk who are not coming into the clinic, " says Freedman.

Genital warts, chlamydia and herpes are some of the most commonly diagnosed STIs, while HIV, too, is on the increase. However, new figures from the gay community show that the number of gay men seeking HIV tests in Ireland has fallen by 33% in four years, despite large numbers admitting to having unprotected sex.

According to Mick Quinlan of the Gay Men's Health Project (GMHP), safe sex is more complex than most men seem to believe. "For protection from things like hepatitis, gonorrhoea and syphilis, condoms also need to be used for oral sex and that is often forgotten, " he said. "The main issue is that so many STIs have no symptoms and can go unnoticed for years. We recommend that if you're sexually active, you consider screenings once or twice a year."

The GMHP operates every Wednesday evening and completed 1,800 screenings last year. "For one evening a week, that's a lot, " said Quinlan. "We have an extremely busy service."

Social stigma A new dating website exclusively for people with STDs and STIs, datepositive. net, has seen 150 Irish users come online since it launched last month. According to its owner, Sheelagh Caygill, people starting a relationship are still reluctant to talk about testing.

"There is generally a stigma still attached to having an STD, " she said. "It's not something people speak openly about and there's a real fear of rejection among people who are living with one. The conversation about testing is still a touchy one."

Both St James's and the Mater Hospital STI clinics have had to close their waiting lists in the past because of excess demand. In general, patients must wait up to eight weeks for the free services.

According to Niall Behan of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), it is imperative that STI testing services be extended and made available to medical card-holders.

"At the moment it costs 140 to get a test privately, " said Behan.

"That's well beyond the means of many people, and unless they're prepared to hang around for two months, most will just not bother.

There's also a question around what a full STI test is.

For instance, a chlamydia test is an STI test, but it's not a full screening. There's an important distinction."

Freedman agrees. "We have come across patients who have been given inappropriate advice, not fully screened and told things that simply aren't true, " he said.

"It stems from a lack of knowledge in services that aren't specialised."

The IFPA tends to see patients between the ages of 30 and 45. According to Behan, there is a real issue about lack of awareness in young people.

"Sex education in schools isn't up to the standard and is in fact at times unhelpful, " he said. "There's a lot of misinformation out there and that needs to be addressed."

Back in St James's, two young men strike up a conversation.

"What are you here for?"

asks one.

"The usual, " says the other, evasively.

"I know, " says his companion and he shakes his head sadly.

"Women."

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS RISE IN SEXUAL INFECTIONS THE Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships, the first major report of its kind in this country, was published last week.

Commissioned by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Department of Health, it surveyed 7,441 adults aged between 18 and 64 about their sexual practices. Among its findings were:

>> 17 is now the average age of Irish people's first sexual experience. More than half of men and women under 25 have their first sexual experience at this stage, around six years earlier than was the case 40 years ago. 31% of men and 22% of women aged 18 to 24 had their first sexual experience before 17.

>> women who have sex before the age of 17 are 70% more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy and three times more likely to experience abortion.

>> men and women who have sex before 17 are three times more likely to report experiencing a sexually transmitted infection.

>> 2.5% of heterosexual men between 18 and 25 have had more than 10 partners.

>> 32% of homosexual men have had ten or more partners in their life so far, compared to 21% of the overall male population.

>> women with homosexual experience tend to have fewer partners than the general female population aged 18 to 64.

>> the total number of new STD infections notified increased from 2,228 annually in 1989 to nearly 10,500 in 2003. Rates of non-specific urethritis, genital warts and chlamydia trachomatis rose strongly, particularly from 1994 onwards.

>> around 19% of women aged between 35 and 44 do not use contraception, even when they don't want to become pregnant.

>> drinking alcohol/taking drugs was quoted as a contributory cause of not using contraception by 20% of respondents under 25 who did not use contraception.

>> other common reasons for non-use among this age-group were unavailability of contraception (18%), unplanned sex (16%) and not thinking to use contraception (15%).

>> over 90% of respondents thought that emergency contraception, such as the 'morning after pill', should be available in Ireland. 52% of men and 42% of women thought that it should be available over the counter.

However, only 21% of men and 42% of women know the correct time limit for the use of emergency contraception.

>> 29% of Irish men have had only one sexual partner in their lifetime.

>> 78% of men and 71% of women who had just met their partner before the time of intercourse used a condom, compared to 17% of married men and 16% of married women.

>> 14% of respondents who had just met their partner before having sex for the first time reported not using a condom because they trusted that their partner would not have an STI.

>> 92% of people supported sex education in the home and at school for young people on the subject of sexual intercourse, sexual feelings, contraception, safer sex and homosexuality. 90% of people thought that sex education should be provided at school and 80% said that it should be provided in the home.

>> 53% of men and 60% women had received some sex education at home or in school. The highest recipients were those aged 18-24, with 88% of men and 93% of women having received sex education, compared to 49% of men and 59% of women in the 35-44 age group, and 12% of men and 19% of women in the 55-64 age group.