workers continue to grapple with getting the "safe sex'' message across -- especially to teenagers.

Figures from the Health Department show nearly 200 teenagers caught venereal diseases in 1992.

But most cases were in the 20-29 age group, with 285 men and women catching STDs last year.

And nurse Ms Cynthia Stovell, who runs the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic on Victoria Street warned: "STDs and HIV go hand in hand. AIDS is just one more sexually transmitted disease.'' The Health Department earlier this year stepped up educational visits and activities after seeing no significant reduction in the number of teens contracting STDs, especially chlamydia.

However, the good news is the number of STD cases overall has dropped, according to the Clinic's latest figures.

Last year there were a total of 724 cases of syphilis, gonorrhoea, herpes and non-specific venereal diseases including chlamydia, compared to 491 this year.

But if a current rash of syphilis cases continues, numbers could be up this year, Ms Stovell said.

"I feel STDs may be declining -- it's about time! But I don't like to make predictions until the end of the year,'' she said.

Ms Stovell said half a dozen heterosexual men and women had tested positive for the dangerous disease syphilis in the last few weeks.

"We normally get one case every few months,'' she pointed out.

Most were in their late 20s and led risky lifestyles -- one could have been a prostitute, she said. But they also included well-groomed "nice'' young women who had not had that many sexual partners.

Ms Stovell said she was not alarmed by the rise in syphilis infections because few cases had been reported for the year so far. But if the trend continued there would be cause for concern.

Ms Stovell said she had seen cases where people came in for STD screenings and tested positive for the AIDS virus as well.

"If you are at risk for a STD, that includes HIV,'' she said. AIDS tests were only conducted with the patient's permission though, she stressed.

Delivering the weighty message to someone that they have AIDS or an STD was tough on clinic staff.

"No one thinks it can happen to them. They always say `it won't happen to me'. But even with all the information out there, there are still people leading risky lifestyles. I guess there will always be people who just don't plain listen.

"Some people say we should have a more narcissistic approach to educating the public on AIDS and STDs, but I don't think that would make any difference.'' If left untreated, syphilis, which develops in three stages, can spread throughout the body and cause miscarriages, blindness, deafness or heart disease and even death, which was often the case before a cure was discovered.

Early symptoms include painless sores called chancres on the genitals, mouth or other areas, which soon disappear, and then a rash and flu-like symptoms.

"Syphilis used to be as lethal as AIDS is today -- it can be a very debilitating condition,'' Ms Stovell said. "It's a very subtle disease.

People are exposed and not aware they have it.'' The STD Clinic sees roughly three quarters of all sexually transmitted disease cases in Bermuda.

Last year, 181 under-19-year-olds caught STDs, according to Health Department figures.

In 1991, there were 180 teen STD cases, and in 1990, 150 cases. In the 20-29 age group, 285 people tested positive last year for STDs, compared to 345 in 1991 and 332 in 1990.

Of the four STD categories, the highest number of cases the clinic saw this year occurred in the non-specific venereal disease category (379 cases), which includes chlamydia and urethritis.