Apparently 1 in 4 girls in the US have had a sexually transmitted disease that a!
Question: i wouldnt have thought it was that high
Answers: i wouldnt have thought it was that high
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 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 most 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, probably 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.
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Waqas Y
http://onfitnesspros.com
yes why is that ? because they are s.l.u.t.s the sooner UK distances inself from america the better
Im afraid it is at least as high in the UK and Ireland but the fact is that a lot of youngsters dont know they have any STD until they are much older and have issues with fertility etc. Education needs to improve and I think compulsory screening for sexually active teens is essential!
see a doctor
On the one hand we have more pressure than ever before on young women to enter into sexual relationships and on the other, a stubborn belief based upon nothing that the less information these young women are given about the risks they face, the less likely they are to have sex. There is a stigma attached to the use of condoms, and a still greater one to the actual possession of them that leaves girls dependant upon their partners for protection and boys feeling that any girl who insists they use a condom must be some sort of whore..or else that she is insulting them by thinking they may not be "clean". Finally, when a girl does have unprotected sex she is still far more likely to worry about being pregnant than about having caught an std.which means that if she was using the pill or had access to the morning after pill..or if she simply has her next period on time, she barely considers the other possibilities.
We need better and clearer education about these things to be made available at schools, teachers who are actually trained to give this information rather than someone who has been given a couple of leaflets and told to take a single class on the subject with their students... single gender classes would also be a good idea as there would be less giggling and posturing to distract attention from the teaching...and less embarrassment for everyone concerned when discussing human sexuality.
Young girls and boys need more information, until they have it only a fool would suppose that they can be relied upon to get themselves through this period of hormonal upheaval and sexual temptation unscathed.