Posted on 03/11/2008 1:03:55 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.
A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls — nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD. That rate compared with 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens, the study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
About half of the girls acknowledged ever having sex; among them, the rate was 40 percent. While some teens define sex as only intercourse, other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some infections.
For many, the numbers likely seem "overwhelming because you're talking about nearly half of the sexually experienced teens at any one time having evidence of an STD," said Dr. Margaret Blythe, an adolescent medicine specialist at Indiana University School of Medicine and head of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on adolescence.
But the study highlights what many doctors who treat teens see every day, Blythe said.
Dr. John Douglas, director of the CDC's division of STD prevention, said the results are the first to examine the combined national prevalence of common sexually transmitted diseases among adolescent girls. He said the data, from 2003-04, likely reflect current rates of infection.
"High STD rates among young women, particularly African-American young women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk," Douglas said.
The CDC's Dr. Kevin Fenton said given that STDs can cause infertility and cervical cancer in women, "screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities."
The study by CDC researcher Dr. Sara Forhan is an analysis of nationally representative data on 838 girls who participated in a 2003-04 government health survey. Teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and herpes simplex virus, 2 percent.
Blythe said the results are similar to previous studies examining rates of those diseases individually.
The results were prepared for release Tuesday at a CDC conference in Chicago on preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
HPV can cause genital warts but often has no symptoms. A vaccine targeting several HPV strains recently became available, but Douglas said it likely has not yet had much impact on HPV prevalence rates in teen girls.
Chlamydia and trichomoniasis can be treated with antibiotics. The CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women under age 25. It also recommends the three-dose HPV vaccine for girls aged 11-12 years, and catch-up shots for females aged 13 to 26.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has similar recommendations.
Douglas said screening tests are underused in part because many teens don't think they're at risk, but also, some doctors mistakenly think, '"Sexually transmitted diseases don't happen to the kinds of patients I see.'"
Blythe said some doctors also are reluctant to discuss STDs with teen patients or offer screening because of confidentiality concerns, knowing parents would have to be told of the results.
The American Academy of Pediatrics supports confidential teen screening, she said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has similar recommendations.
I recommend these girls keep their legs closed.
Thass nassty.
Sexually transmitted diseases are spreading like wild fire. Yet, nobody seems willing to open their eyes and see that this is the result of moral decline.
I am convinced that in 20 years, The vast majority of Americans will be dealing with genital herpes.
we reap what we sow.
Obviously we need more sex education and more condoms-on-bananas.
I can’t believe the travesty of what has become of public education.
The rates of teen sex actually peaked in the 1980s and have slightly declined since then.
Here they go again trying to sell the HPV vaccine. They tried to force vaccination here in Texas on all girls in school the year before last. It did not go over well, to say the least!!!
And, I’m not sure I’m buying the statistic that 1 out of 4 teenage girls have a STD. That seems extremely high.
I’ll bet most of them share STD meds with their mothers.
*rolling eyes*
Sometimes I wish these liberals got a dose of their own medicine and got sued for promoting irresponsible sexual encounters.
It’s just cold sores.
And commercials for herpes medication that makes it sound like a minor inconvenience, rather than a nasty STD. This is the morally ambivalent “If it feels good, do it!” culture coming home to roost.
Happily prudish and training his kids to be the same,
IOTN
ps - I wonder what color “Mexican American” is? The article said “black girls”, “whites”, and “Mexican American”. Why were they not designated a color like the other two groups?
This is clearly due to the lack of sex ed in the schools.
I will never have sex with a teen age girl again.
But I'd certainly not say the need is for more sex education - the need is to get all these who prey upon these teens away from them. From the drug companies peddling the latest in non-barrier contraceptives to the same drug companies pushing immunization shots to counter the HPV virus which is the main STD in this study.
You have to wonder how a once moral and dignified country sinks this low — and whether it can ever again arise from the abyss. Billy Graham reportedly once said, “If God doesn’t judge America, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” Could be an urban legend, but either way, I’m afraid it’s true. What a mess we have made of ourselves.
A refuse ta look a young wohman-in-the-ahye...
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you don’t work in the medical field. If you did, you might wonder if those numbers were on the low side.
“What we found is alarming,” the CDC’s Dr. Sara Forhan, who led the study, told reporters. “This means that far too many young women are at risk for the serious health effects of untreated STDs, including infertility and cervical cancer.”
No, what it really means is that far too many women and men whom are far too young are having casual sex. It also means that our moral fabric is unraveling.
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