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provinces topping the list of new infections in the first quarter of the year.
The increase has eroded gains made over the past years to reduce infections.
About 65 077 new cases have been recorded between January and April this year compared to 54 655 in the last four months of 2010, according to latest statistics.
Studies are now underway to establish the drivers of the new infections while health officials have expressed concern at the number of repeat patients coming for treatment.
Addressing journalists at a media workshop in Kadoma on Tuesday, National Aids Council research officer Mr Freeman Dube said there was now a national study to investigate the rise.
“There was an increase in the number of new STI cases in the quarter (First Quarter) under review reversing the declining trend which had started in 2010,” he told journalists.
There are fears that the new cases of infection could be a sign people are not using protection or the infections are not responding to treatment.
“The study will attempt to answer the question, why. After registering a significant decline of STI cases in the country there seems to be an upsurge.
“Is it that people are not using condoms or the infections are not responding to treatment which would explain the number of repeat cases?” he said.
The most common infections include urethral and vaginal discharge and genital ulcer syndrome.
Statistics show that more women than men are infected.
Harare and Masvingo recorded the highest infections with 2 400 cases compared to about 1 600 cases in December 2010.
A doctor who preferred anonymity said the increase in STIs was worrying.
He, however, said the figures were still significantly lower than those recorded in the 1990s.
“The cases are up but they still remain significantly lower than the cases we had in the 90s but of concern is that it is eroding the gains we have made,” said the doctor.
The increase comes at a time when there are various interventions that have been put in place to reverse the scourge of HIV and Aids including male circumcision, distribution of condoms and care for those infected.
The workshop was organised to update the media on the progress made so far in the response to the HIV and Aids pandemic.
Meanwhile a 20-day study to find out the impact of HIV and Aids in the country’s prisons began on Tuesday following the training of officials early this week.
This is expected to help in coming up with responses tailor-made for the prisoners who are vulnerable.