Study: 1 in 4 teen girls has an STD

[STO4]

# Story Highlights

# First study of its kind shows nearly 3 million teen girls have an STD
# HPV, which can cause cervical cancer, is the most prevalent
# Nearly half of all African American females tested had at least one STD
# Doctors: Screening, vaccination, prevention among highest health priorities


http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/11/teen.std.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

 

[KansasCutie]

gross.

 

[Nocgirl]

Without this turning into a big racist debate, why is it so much more prevalent among blacks? It just does more to cause more stereotypes.

It is because the black children tend to live in poorer communties, and they are just not educated on this? Does the problem start at home?

That is why this preaching abstience thing just is not working. Safe sex and condom usage should be preached.

 

[TheShadow]

This study was from data collected in 2004...I wonder if it's even worse now? I find these numbers pretty shocking. Especially now with some diseases like herpes and HIV which can not be cured but will be lifelong problems for these girls. And where is the data for the boys? THese girls got these diseases somewhere...

 

[Glow]

This study was from data collected in 2004...I wonder if it's even worse now? I find these numbers pretty shocking. Especially now with some diseases like herpes and HIV which can not be cured but will be lifelong problems for these girls. And where is the data for the boys? THese girls got these diseases somewhere...

I agree. I think these numbers are very conservative.

 

[Filly]

Without this turning into a big racist debate, why is it so much more prevalent among blacks? It just does more to cause more stereotypes.

It is because the black children tend to live in poorer communties, and they are just not educated on this? Does the problem start at home?

That is why this preaching abstience thing just is not working. Safe sex and condom usage should be preached.

If indeed it is fact Nocgirl then it wouldn't be a stereotype, right? I'd like to know the stats on other races. I hear some of the Latino girls talking at a rape crisis center I go to and in many Latino cultures the condom just don't go. It's a machismo thing. I may be spelling that wrong. No girl should be catching any of these diseases in this day and age, period. The abstinance thing is absurd. Give these kids the knowledge they need. A barrier method has to be used no matter what. They need to be shown photographs of these diseases. They have to understand it takes just once. Many of them have no symptoms and can put their fertility at risk. They have to all be taught how to use a condom properly. That's some high numbers, and definately conservative.

 

[Annie]

I think a lot of them may be getting them by being molested or raped by older men instead of consensual sex. It is sad whatever is causing it. This may lead to many of them never being able to have children or having children with problems. Many may not recognize the SDT for what it is and are passing it on to others unknowingly.

 

[Filly]

It is sad whatever is causing it.

What's causing it Annie is unprotected sex. What doesn't help is the abstinence bandwagon. In my daughters Catholic High School they have married couples come in and preach how they were celibate prior to marriage. That's wonderful, but unrealistic unfortunately. Of course my daughter raised her hand and went into explaining how noble these people were. Her sarcasm, but this is a crisis and they should be learning how to prevent pregnancy and STD's. Again I get called up to school by the nuns. My daughter said on the way home "Mom, them girls that are sleeping with three different guys unprotected were the ones looked all shocked I spoke up".

 

[pedinurse]

I'd believe it. You guys have NO freakin idea.

 

[pedinurse]

What's causing it Annie is unprotected sex. What doesn't help is the abstinence bandwagon. In my daughters Catholic High School they have married couples come in and preach how they were celibate prior to marriage. That's wonderful, but unrealistic unfortunately. Of course my daughter raised her hand and went into explaining how noble these people were. Her sarcasm, but this is a crisis and they should be learning how to prevent pregnancy and STD's. Again I get called up to school by the nuns. My daughter said on the way home "Mom, them girls that are sleeping with three different guys unprotected were the ones looked all shocked I spoke up".

yeah whatever. people say that but they lie. i hate to be like that, but when i was in high school and in youth group, we had multiple couples that were "leaders" and they would all be like "oh we waited"... blah blah blah... anyway, now a couple of marriages have broken up, stuff has happened, crap hit the fan. people have remarried and dated. I know people. anyway... i KNOW people didn't wait and what went on before who married who now and what went on in those marriages (and GOD, I didn't even ask!!).
I don't think it works. Just give them the real deal. I think that abstienence is part of the program... sure it is. But so are condoms and birth control.

 

[Cypros]

They need to be shown photographs of these diseases. They have to understand it takes just once.

Here! Here! Several years ago I went to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. It is a fabulous medical museum with specimens of all kinds of medical oddities and antique medical equipment. They had a temporary exhibit on venereal diseases. It included graphic photos and wax models and case studies. Based on how I felt after that exhibit, I think that it should be made permanent and duplicated throughout the country and that every teenager should be REQUIRED to see it. I think it would do a lot to reduce the STD epidemic and teenage pregnancies.

 

[AmandaBrown23]

This is very disturbing and it makes me really scared for my kids. Somebody needs to invent a pill like birth control but std control instead.

 

[christine2448]

This is very disturbing and it makes me really scared for my kids. Somebody needs to invent a pill like birth control but std control instead.

It's called a condom isn't it? :blushing: Or am I dumb? Doesn't wearing a condom prevent from most STD's...I've been married so long I don't recall how all that works, LMAO! :blushing:

 

[christine2448]

STD Facts

• Sexually transmitted diseases affect more than 12 million Americans each year, many of whom are teenagers or young adults.
• Using drugs and alcohol increases your chances of getting STDs because these substances can interfere with your judgment and your ability to use a condom properly.
• Intravenous drug use puts a person at higher risk for HIV and hepatitis B because IV drug users usually share needles.
• The more partners you have, the higher your chance of being exposed to HIV or other STDs. This is because it is difficult to know whether a person is infected, or has had sex with people who are more likely to be infected due to intravenous drug use or other risk factors.
• Sometimes, early in infection, there may be no symptoms, or symptoms may be confused with other illnesses.
• You cannot tell by looking at someone whether he or she is infected with HIV or another STD.

STDs can cause:

• pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can damage a woman's fallopian tubes and result in pelvic pain and sterility
• tubal pregnancies (where the fetus grows in the fallopian tube instead of the womb), sometimes fatal to the mother and always fatal to the fetus
• cancer of the cervix in women
• sterility--the inability to have children--in both men and women
• damage to major organs, such as the heart, kidney and brain, if STDs go untreated
• death, especially with HIV infection.

See a doctor if you have any of these STD symptoms:

• discharge from vagina, penis or rectum
• pain or burning during urination or intercourse
• pain in the abdomen (women), testicles (men), or buttocks and legs (both)
• blisters, open sores, warts, rash, or swelling in the genital or anal areas or mouth
• persistent flu-like symptoms--including fever, headache, aching muscles, or swollen glands--which may precede STD symptoms.

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/ots_stds.html

 

[christine2448]

From the same link:

So people who use other kinds of birth control, such as the pill, diaphragm, Norplant, Depo-Provera, cervical cap, or IUD, also need to use condoms to help prevent STDs.
Here's why: Latex condoms work against STDs by keeping blood, a man's semen, and a woman's vaginal fluids--all of which can carry bacteria and viruses--from passing from one person to another. For many years, scientists have known that male condoms (also called safes, rubbers, or prophylactics) can help prevent STDs transmitted by bacteria, such as syphilis and gonorrhea, because the bacteria can't get through the condom. More recently, researchers discovered that latex condoms can also reduce the risk of getting STDs caused by viruses, such as HIV, herpes, and hepatitis B, even though viruses are much smaller than bacteria or sperm.
After this discovery, FDA, which regulates condoms as medical devices, worked with manufacturers to develop labeling for latex condoms. The labeling tells consumers that although latex condoms cannot entirely eliminate the risk of STDs, when used properly and consistently they are highly effective in preventing STDs. FDA also provided a sample set of instructions and requested that all condoms include adequate instructions.

 

[bnhall]

This is very disturbing and it makes me really scared for my kids. Somebody needs to invent a pill like birth control but std control instead.

Considering that viral STDs are incurable and bacterial STDs are caused from a wide variety of bacteria with vastly different pathogenicities, that's never even going to be a possibility.

Everyone should teach their kids to use condoms, because if they aren't sexually active in HS, they more than likely will be soon after they graduate. Teenage girls should get a pelvic exam with an STD test every year since males almost never get tested unless they find out their partner is positive. In case something goes wrong, like a condom breaks, girls should know that they have someone safe, who is knowledgeable about these things, to speak with (like the family doctor). Abstinence education is not working and the youth of today are suffering because of their ignorance. In my virology and bacteriology classes, we learned that the estimated percentage of people infected with genital warts (HPV) is predicted to be 50%. Most people never show any symptoms so they never know that they have it. Another 20% is infected with genital herpes, most of whom are asymptomatic. Add the bacterial infections, such as chlamydia, which infects 2.8 million each year in the US and also is typically asymptomatic, and has caused a high percentage of female infertility (blocked fallopian tubes -> ectopic pregnancy).

This is an issue I get so angry about!!!! Education DOES NOT mean you are encouraging kids to have sex.

 

[Eire]

On top of learning about condoms and how to prevent STDs, kids need to be taught that any sexual contact can lead to the spread of STDs. So many young people I know think that oral sex is 100% safe and that's just not true. I've known kids who take this purity pledges then go out and have oral or anal sex because they think only vaginal penetration "counts."

Sure, tell the kids that the safest thing to do is wait, but be realistic as well. Some of these programs approach it like a marriage license somehow protects you from STDs, which I find laughable. If you partner lied, you're still at risk. Girls need to be taught that they have the right, no make that duty, of insisting on condoms. If the boy says no, don't even think of having sex with him. I don't want to sound alarmist, but I've been giving serious thought to telling my kids to insist on a STD screening before they have sex. I did when I met my fiancee. He complied, so did I. Maybe I went a bit overboard, but you can't always see certain STDs.

 

[ljwf22]

On top of learning about condoms and how to prevent STDs, kids need to be taught that any sexual contact can lead to the spread of STDs. So many young people I know think that oral sex is 100% safe and that's just not true. I've known kids who take this purity pledges then go out and have oral or anal sex because they think only vaginal penetration "counts."

Very, very true.

 

[christine2448]

Educate your children! Don't forget to remind them that every time they are sexually active with someone, they are also 'sleeping' with every single person thier partner has been with.

 

[bnhall]

On top of learning about condoms and how to prevent STDs, kids need to be taught that any sexual contact can lead to the spread of STDs. So many young people I know think that oral sex is 100% safe and that's just not true. I've known kids who take this purity pledges then go out and have oral or anal sex because they think only vaginal penetration "counts."

Yes. There was a chlamydia outbreak among the 8th graders when I a senior in HS. (We were all in the same building - less than 300 kids 7-12 grades, rural school). I can tell you the names of the kids, the names of their parents, the churches they went to, the names of their pastors and the names of their youth leaders. These kids were Christian kids of Christian parents who never suspected their kids of being sexually active. The problem does not lie only within urban areas. Many parents are being blindsided by the choices their children are making.