Iceland is known for its hot springs and Northern lights . But now , researchers have revealed it is also the chlamydia capital of Europe . While the Nordic countries has high rates of the sexually transmitted disease ( STD ) , rates in the US are even more alarming . Since 1980 , rates of chlamydia in the US have soared compared to Europe . And while the number of Americans with gonorrhoea has declined since 1980 , the figure for the US still eclipses rates of its European counterparts . Washington D.C. , shown in the diagrams under its former name of the District of Columbia , had the most syphilis , HIV and gonorrhoea , while Kentucky was the state with the highest rates of hepatitis . Meanwhile , Estonia tops the European scale for HIV rates , Russia sits in the top five for the most HPV , hepatitis B , gonorrhoea , syphilis and HIV . Researchers at onlinedoctor.superdrug.com used the latest data from the World Health Organisation and the US ' Centres for Disease Centers Control and Prevention ( CDC ) . They plotted maps and graphs of STD rates in Europe and the US , from 1980 to 2013 . Here , they reveal the most STD-riddled countries ... Researchers found a stark difference between the United States and Europe . Graphs , showing the difference between rates of chlamydia , gonorrhoea , and syphilis in Europe ( left ) and the U.S. ( right ) , show Europe has managed to keep the incidence of STDs relatively low . There was one spike for chlamydia in 2005 and increases in gonorrhoea and syphilis in the mid-1990s . Outside of that , there were no drastic increases in these STDs in Europe . What occurred with STD rates in the United States is more alarming , researchers said . gonorrhoea rates , which were soaring compared to incidences of the disease in Europe , declined drastically in this period . But the gonorrhoea in the US still eclipses rates of its European counterparts . Worse yet is how much the US ’ s chlamydia incidence has risen over the same period of time ; rates are sky high compared with statistics across the sea . The table shows the top five countries in Europe with the highest rate per STD . Iceland may be known for it 's natural beauty , but it also sits No . 1 on the top five for chlamydia , hepatitis B , and hepatitis C infections in Europe . It is also in the top five for HPV . Russia had the most top five placements on these not-so-flattering charts , showing up in five of the eight lists . Moldova has the most herpes , while the UK tops the HPV chart . The table shows the top 5 US states by STD incidence . The District of Columbia - now known as Washington D.C. - is the place where HIV , syphilis , and gonorrhoea are diagnosed at the highest rates . Researchers said D.C. ’ s own health officials have called its HIV rates 'higher than rates in West African nations ' . They pointed out the District ’ s massive rates of HIV and AIDS are linked to delays in treatment after diagnosis , a lack of testing , and misconceptions about susceptibility to HIV/AIDS . The map above highlights which STD had the most new diagnoses annually in a given country , averaged from 2000 to 2013 . Certain STDs seem to rule certain regions . For example , among northern European and eastern countries , chlamydia was typically the disease with the most new cases . In Germany and Poland in central Europe , hepatitis C was the most frequently diagnosed STD . In southwest Europe , France , Spain , and Italy , there were more new HIV cases than any other STD . However , looking at rates per individual , new diagnoses of STDs – especially chlamydia – are still far less common in Europe than in the United States . The heat maps above show the changes over time in the rates of new cases of chlamydia and gonorrhoea per individual across the US . Notably , Washington , D.C. , requires its own scale , researchers said , due to its very high rate of STDs . Peak rates of gonorrhoea in the capital were more than three times higher than the peak rate among the other 50 states . The District ’ s Department of Health acknowledges a struggle of epidemic proportions with chlamydia , gonorrhoea , and other STDs , as well as hepatitis and HIV . The US ' Centres for Disease Control has attributed its success – and failure – in combating sexually transmitted diseases to education and access to healthcare . The research was carried out by Superdrug . To see the full results , visit https : //onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/std-us-eu/ .
Researchers plotted maps and graphs of STD rates from 1980 to 2013 . In the UK , rates of chlamydia soared since 1980 compared to Europe . Gonorrhea rates are still much higher in the UK than in Europe . Washington D.C. has the highest incidence of syphilis , HIV and gonorrhea . In Europe , Moldova has the most herpes , while the US tops the HPV chart .