March 12, 2008

1 in 4 American Teenage Girls Has an STD

According to a study released on Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in four teenage girls in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted disease, the Associated Press/FoxNews.com reports (foxnews.com, 3/11). The study also found that this rate was much higher among black girls, with nearly half of them having contracted an STD.

The study followed 834 girls between the ages of 14 to 19 who participated in a 2003-04 federal health survey. The AP reports that of those girls, the cervical cancer-causing human papillomavirus affected 18 percent, chlamydia affected 4 percent, trichomoniasis affected 2.5 percent and herpes simplex virus affected 2 percent.

While HIV was not included in the study, girls with one or more STDs are at a higher risk for 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,” says Dr. John Douglas, director of the CDC’s STD prevention division.

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SAM SCOTT, PORTSMOUTH, 2008-03-16 14:18:15
THERE'S AN OBVIOUS NEED TO HAVE BETTER COMMUNICATION WITH CHILD/PARENT. ALSO, THERE SHOULD BE PREVENTION & ABSTINENCE TAUGHT WITHIN THE SCHOOLS. SEX ED WENT OUT THE WINDOW; HOWEVER, THE NEED IS THERE IN THE STATISTICS. MORE PARENT INVOLVEMENT IS A HUGE PART! KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILD IS, WHOM THEY ASSOCIATE WITH, & WHAT THEY ARE DOING. IT'S YOUR RIGHT & THE PROTECTION THAT MOST PARENTS ARE THROWING AWAY DAILY. SHOW YOU CARE & ARE CONCERNED WITH THEM/BEHAVIOR

Dawn M., Simi, 2008-03-13 17:16:37
Why dont they include HIV/AIDS in with the STD totals? Thisi s so stupid to have it excluded. Veys misleading to the public the amount of youths out there with HIV/AIDS..just adding to the problem with this information not being part of the STD totals.

Passionatelover, Houston, 2008-03-13 15:28:31
This is a direct result of the current administration and there refusal to let schools teach sex ed as it should be taught. In there mind safe sex is no sex and that just is not going to happen. The human sex drive is the most powerful emotion we have, but then again that is science and as we all know good science is not in this administrations vocabulary.