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By
Deborah Huso
According to a report just released from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in four teenage girls has or has had a
sexually transmitted disease (STD). The research shows that many of these
girls are infected soon after their first sexual encounter, leading to renewed calls for better sexual health education among teens.
The study followed over 800 girls between the ages of 14 and 19. Among the STDs the researchers tracked were
gonorrhea, Chlamydia, herpes simplex virus type 2 and
human papillomavirus (HPV). Twenty-four percent of study participants were infected with one of more of these STDs. Of that 24 percent, more than 18 percent were infected with HPV, the presence of which can eventually lead to cervical cancer.
Teenage girls also accounted for the greatest number of reported cases of Chlamydia and gonorrhea, outpacing women in their early 20s. The study also showed that African American teens and young women are particularly vulnerable to STDs. Black teenage girls have the highest rates of Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection of any racial or age group.
"We cannot ignore the glaring racial disparities in rates of STDs, particularly when we consider the hard truth that gonorrhea rates among African Americans are 20 times those of whites," says John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of
CDC's Division of STD Prevention. He cites lack of access to quality health care as a major cause of the prevalence of STDs in minority communities.
As for the high rates of STDs among female teens, study authors claim public reluctance to talk about sexual health is largely to blame. "STDs are hidden epidemics of enormous health and economic consequence in the United States," the study authors claim.
"We know adolescent girls and minorities are most impacted by STDs," says Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of
CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. "So it is up to us as a nation to reach out to them and ensure we are providing the necessary prevention, testing and treatment services."
Authors of the newly released study strongly advocate that girls between 11 and 12 years of age should get the
HPV vaccine, and they also advocate annual testing for Chlamydia, which if left untreated can lead to both
infertility and
pelvic inflammatory disease, in teenage girls and young women.
