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That's what happens when you don't teach kids to use condoms. Well done, GW.
http://wbztv.com/local/teen.girls.std.2.674611.html
Study: At Least 1 In 4 Teen Girls Has An STD
By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) ― 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.
Among girls who admitted ever having sex, 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 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 they likely reflect current prevalence rates.
"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.
The results were prepared for release Tuesday at a CDC conference in Chicago on preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Four common diseases were examined -- human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; tric niasis, 2.5 percent; and herpes simplex virus, 2 percent.
Blythe said the results are similar to previous studies examining rates of those diseases individually.
HPV can cause genital warts but often has no symptoms. A vaccine targeting several HPV strains recently became available. Douglas said it likely has not yet had much impact on HPV prevalence rates in teen girls.
Chlamydia and tric niasis 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.
That's what happens when you don't teach kids to use condoms. Well done, GW.
I blame Myspace.
Hate GWB all you want, but this was going on long before him.
chris hansen isnt doing his job....we nore MOAR of him to catch the uncatchable
Sure, but taking condoms out of the curriculum can't have helped.
Not 100% sure, but I'm guessing the call on that one gets made WAY below the POTUS pay grade.
How about the constant 'sex' bombardment they see on TV, ads, everywhere they go... It was bound to get out of control.
Education only goes so far... When every media outlet, show, and movie glorifies hop-scotch sex, how else are they supposed to know that they are unprepared for it (at their age)?
But I guess GW is responsible for the consequences incurred by everyone else's choices. That's right I said choice. Let people be responsible for their actions. How about bad parenting?
Anyways this is a tragic, but not surprising, problem affecting our youth.
It didn't. When I was working for the rape crisis center here we weren't allowed to show condoms in any kind of presentation because of federal funding rules. We also had to use the term "sexual activity" instead of "sex" because the former supposedly implied that intercourse may not have occurred. Stupid .
Didn't help that we couldn't use the word "rape" either. My badge said "The Center" instead of "Rape Crisis Center" for similar reasons.
Yes and no. To a large extent, the call gets made at the funding level, and from 1996 to 2006 over $1.5bil of Federal money was funneled into abstinence only programs. So I guess you can blame Clinton as well. Put "us sex education abstinence" into google and do some reading (I don't want to be accused of feeding you bad sources).
The reason I said Bush is that one of his first moves as President was to cut ALL FUNDING to foreign aid sexual education programs that teach condom use. Abstinence programs were the only sex education programs that have been funded under Bush. There is also plenty of information on the net about that. I was very surprised to find that he did much the same thing domestically. And Jekka is someone working at the coalface who can attest to the effect that a "funding decision" has on real practice.
I agree with all that you said - media, poor parenting, glorification of sex are all driving the problem, no question. But the absurdity of removing funding to sex ed programs that teach condom use is pretty overwhelming.
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