Center For Disease Control Study Finds 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has a Sexually Transmitted Disease

2008 March 19 by: Scott

Nation news reports on on four major news networks and the popular cable news networks all shared the following information regarding teenage girls in the United States:

1 in 4 Teenage Girls has a Sexually Transmitted Disease

Two days later, the story was gone! In the meantime, 3.2 million female teenage girls in the U.S. are carrying a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Is your child affected? One parent whom I spoke with said, “No, I have boys. Thank goodness for that!” News alert!… if 1 in 4 girls are carrying a STD, than the boys are at risk too. This article that was published by the CDC in March, 2008, should not cause parents to become over-reactive, but should be a catalyst for education and change in existing behaviors in our youth today.

CDC Statistics…

– 3.2 Million Female Adolescents Estimated to Have at Least One of the Most Common STDs –
– Other Studies Featured at 2008 National STD Prevention Conference Show Missed Opportunities for STD Screening and Innovative Solutions for STD Prevention and Treatment –
Chicago (March 11, 2008) – A CDC study released today estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – or 3.2 million teenage girls – is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis). The study, presented today at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference, is the first to examine the combined national prevalence of common STDs among adolescent women in the United States, and provides the clearest picture to date of the overall STD burden in adolescent women.

Led by CDC’s Sara Forhan, M.D., M.P.H., the study also finds that African-American teenage girls were most severely affected. Nearly half of the young African-American women (48 percent) were infected with an STD, compared to 20 percent of young white women.

The two most common STDs overall were human papillomavirus, or HPV (18 percent), and chlamydia (4 percent). Data were based on an analysis of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

“Today’s data demonstrate the significant health risk STDs pose to millions of young women in this country every year,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “Given that the health effects of STDs for women – from infertility to cervical cancer – are particularly severe, STD screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities.”

“High STD infection rates among young women, particularly young African-American women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk,” said John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “STD screening and early treatment can prevent some of the most devastating effects of untreated STDs.”

CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for sexually active women under the age of 25. CDC also recommends that girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26 who have not been vaccinated or who have not completed the full series of shots be fully vaccinated against HPV.

The study of STDs among teenage girls is one of several presented today at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference that highlights the significant burden of STDs among girls and women, and identifies creative prevention strategies for reducing the toll of STDs in the United States.