According to a Dutch study published on Thursday, Middle-aged swingers’ denotes heterosexual couples who exchange partners at sex parties. They have been identified as being more prone to chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Researchers in South Limburg, a district having population of 630,000 that also includes Maastricht city, rang the alarm after evaluating statistics from three sexual disease clinics, which have been listing swingers as a patient category, since 2007.

The investigators have found that out of 8,971 consultations for gonorrhea and chlamydia in 2007 and 2008, roughly one in eight were for swingers around the age group of 43.

Swingers have been identified as third category, after young heterosexuals and gays in the disease record. Female swingers are more prone to infections as compare to male swingers.

"Swingers, like other groups with risk behaviors, need to be identified and treated as a risk group in STI (sexually transmitted infection) prevention and care", said Nicole Dukers-Muijrers of the South Limburg Public Medical Health Service, who led the study.

According to the note published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, exact numbers on the Netherlands' population of swingers are uncertain, but the number is possibly high.