A sexually transmitted disease could be causing a rise in head and neck cancers.

Doctors say the increase is being caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV transmitted through oral sex. Some doctors are suggesting girls and boys get vaccinated as a precaution.

"The emergence of new data such as this may increase motivation amongst national vaccination authorities worldwide to re-double efforts to vaccinate children before they become sexually active," Analyst Savvas Neophytou at Panmure Gordon in London said in an equity research note.

Meanwhile, the STD gonorrhea is nearing "superbug" status. That means if doctors do not find new ways of treating it, the disease could become resistant to drugs.

"This is a very clever bacteria. If this problem isn't addressed, there is a real possibility that gonorrhea will become a very difficult infection to treat," Catherine Ison, a specialist on gonorrhea from Britain's Health Protection Agency, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The World Health Organization estimates there are at least 340 million new cases of curable STDs every year.