Study: 1 In 4 U.S. Teen Girls Has STD

First-Ever Study Of Age Group Finds Virus For Cervical Cancer Is Most Common Infection

(CBS/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.

About half of the girls acknowledged ever having sex; among them, 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 the data, from 2003-04, likely reflect current rates of 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," Douglas said.

Experts hope today's report encourages more discussion among teens, parents and doctors, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

"This might be a tough conversation for some parents, but this is their kids' health, but also their future health, Dr. Elizabeth Alderman told LaPook.

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. Teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and herpes simplex virus, 2 percent.

Blythe said the results are similar to previous studies examining rates of those diseases individually.

The results were prepared for release Tuesday at a CDC conference in Chicago on preventing sexually transmitted diseases.

HPV can cause genital warts but often has no symptoms. A vaccine targeting several HPV strains recently became available, but Douglas said it likely has not yet had much impact on HPV prevalence rates in teen girls.

Chlamydia is curable 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.

[easeup-2009]

The only conclusion I have reached from this article is that I went to high school 20 years too EARLY!!!!!

[culturechang]

Govt makes all kinds of estimates like this that turn out to be way over estimated. Take the Human Trafficking situation. They estimated 50,000 per year into the US. In Nov, the State Dept said it has only found 1100 in all 8 years. That 0.25% accurate.

[mike71067]

It''s not "abstinence education", and it''s not due to failing contraceptives - it''s called "moral decay". We''re not supposed to talk about it, so many of you probably haven''t heard of it. That is the root cause of this, and many other, problems in our society.

There is no such thing as "safe ***" outside of marriage.

[wango2007-2009]

Posted by easeup

I read that thanks to the faith based abstinence programs, brought to us with the faith based bribes...

---------------------

This is an example of the irrationality of our times. The only guarantee that disease will not be spread is to stop spreading it (abstinence).

The liberal answer is to allow anyone and everyone to spread disease and totally ignore personal responsibility for sexual actions. And why should anyone take personal responsibility when a woman can just kill her unwanted baby.

You don''t stop the spread of STDs and the killing of the unborn by suggesting more sexual activity among teens is better. Less is better, and that''s why there is a case for abstinence.

Obviously, there is no such thing as "safe ***," -- that is only a myth perpetuated by people with who need excuses to do the wrong thing.

[iceman_1960]

Intelligent s*ex education in the schools is the only answer.

Anyone who thinks Abstinence programs will work, has forgotten all about his or her teenage years.

[wango2007-2009]

Posted by Iceman_1960
Anyone who thinks Abstinence programs will work, has forgotten all about his or her teenage years.

-------------

This certainly doesn''t have anything to do with the topic. Of course teens have urges, but they can be taught to not act on them, just as they are taught not to lie, steal and cheat.

Some will do wrong anyway, but how about .25%, not 25%. Being permissive about teen sexual activity is the problem, not the solution.

[questionnews]

Our school got a visit from Slappy The Abstinence Clown. He told us all about STD''s and how you get them from toilets, door handles & holding hands with the opposite s*e*x. He scared us so bad that I think all the kids from that school are still virgins.

[usbrit-2009]

The only guys who believe abstinence teaching works are the ones who were too ugly to get laid in High School.

[gmcnally2]

This is another commercial for the HPV innoculation. Follow the $ here.

[bogusbones]

thank goodness i''m an old married man and not chasing women anymore. we''re killing ourselves slowly but surely. in a thousand years all those microbes, spiders and cockroaches are going to be laughing as the clean our parched and bleached bones.

[bobnjersey]

[You don''''t stop the spread of STDs and the killing of the unborn by suggesting more sexual activity among teens is better. Less is better, and that''''s why there is a case for abstinence.]
[Posted by Wango2007 at 02:54 PM : Mar 11, 2008]

who''s suggesting teens should have more?

[Obviously, there is no such thing as "safe ***," -- that is only a myth perpetuated by people with who need excuses to do the wrong thing.]

sounds like a ''black and white'' view to me. so it''s the chastity belt or pumping out babies? is there anything between abstinence and (unprotected) wild uninhibited hanging from the chandelier sax?

[erasmus6]

"Study: 1 In 4 U.S. Teen Girls Has STD"

Wow, that is unbelievable.

Who the hell is raising these kids? Isn''t anybody teaching them anything? Is it possible that there are that many lousy parents out there? Of course the answer to that question is a big YES!

[erasmus6]

I think it is going to take more than a change in the government to fix all the problems in the U.S.

[denn034]

You tell kids how to have $ex and you don''t expect them to do it. I mean come on now! $ex and abstinence (telling a kid not to do it amounts to asking them to do it given their rebellious curious nature) ed are the culprit here. There was no $ex or abstinence ed when I went to school from kindergarten to 12th grade and there were only 1-2 pregnancies, 2-3 STDs, and no HIV infections so, this argues even more forcefully against $ex and abstinence ed. Period! $ex and abstinence ed creates a climate of *** in the schools that can only lead to HIV and STD infections. All sexually oriented topics need to be banned in our schools. Period!

[jakmom2]

what do we expect when we allow our children to be desensitized by the permissive behavior that is depicted on television and through music. Not to mention the sensationalism given to the poor and less than moral behavior of our gov''t officials, atheletes and TV and music stars.

[daniel.harris6]

"About half of the girls acknowledged ever having ***; among them, the rate was 40 percent."

Did I just read this right? 40% of all sexually active girls aged 14 to 19 have an STD? That is an astounding percentage given the limited time these girls have had to aquire sexual partners. Is the percentage that high in adults? I''ve never heard that 40% of adult women have an STD. Makes me wonder if this study''s numbers are off.

[erasmus6]

"Parents are relying on the school to raise their kids" "I don''''t think they need *** ed classes..." Posted by mandylou4u

Well I think they need something because the parents obviously aren''t teaching their kids.

The parents jump up and down when the school tries to do something about teaching their kids. They think that it is their place to do it, not the schools, but the parents AREN''T doing it! That is why there is a problem. I don''t know about you people but it most certainly tells me that SOMEBODY needs to do SOMETHING. If the parents aren''t going to do it then I think the school should be able to.

[jumkey]

"Of course teens have urges, but they can be taught to not act on them, just as they are taught not to lie, steal and cheat."

You''re equating $ex with lying, stealing and cheating? That just plain idiotic.

"The liberal answer is to allow anyone and everyone to spread disease and totally ignore personal responsibility for sexual actions"

Really? Is that my "answer"? Because I''m not sure what I would get out of that. I''m constantly amazed at the endless blatant lies you conservatives tell yourselves about who those you perceive to be evil evil "liberals". "Liberals want to destroy America". What? Who? I live here to, why would I want that?

I am so so so so so tired of you religious nuts. Seriously. Go find a cave to live in, OK? You don''t get to decide for me what I do with my body.

Period.

[drivelphobe]

Modern day parenting is lax and inferior. I feel a large proportion of the problem is a direct result of working mothers. Too many women opt to work, trading a few short-term financial gains, for the meaningful development of their children. The result is a lifetime of hell for the kids. It''s a shame.

Add that to the influx of illegals, non-assimilating immigrants, and the drug, alcoholic, me-first population, and there you go.

The pressure on properly raised, morally conscious kids to go along to get along, is enormous. Many decent, focused young people lose their way in the morass of confusion over decisions. The worst in society are having severe, deleterious effects on these kids.

The family provides the foundation for self-confidence, healthy lifestyles, and successful pathways for the future. We have too many dysfunctional relationships raising dysfunctional children and I fear the worst is yet to come.

[erasmus6]

We have had s-e-x ed classes for years and years here. My mother taught me NOTHING, so if it wasn''t for the school, I would have known NOTHING. And I can tell you that just because I was taught something didn''t mean that I ran right out and had s-e-x. A person is either going to have s-e-x or they aren''t, learning about it isn''t going to make them do it.

I also have two daughters who had s-e-x ed in school and I also gave them information and one didn''t have s-e-x until she was 24.

[jakmom2]

This problem is very real and is in every walk of life, single parents, married couples, poor, middle, and upper class. Go ahead and teach your children abstinence, but do not be so blind as not to teach them how to protect themselves. So if they chose not to follow your guidelines, they do not end up with a child or an STD that can alter ther rest of their life .

[erasmus6]

"Too many women opt to work, trading a few short-term financial gains, for the meaningful development of their children." Posted by drivelphobe

That is exactly right. People are greedy. If one parent can''t stay home and look after the kids or at least just have a part-time job, THEN DON''T HAVE KIDS! If both parents have to work in order to have kids, why would you have them? The reason why there is such a problem is because parents that work all the time do not have time or they are too tired to pay attention to them. So therefore they never know where they are or what they are doing.

[drivelphobe]

Erasmus...

You are right on target. If the parents can''t manage to provide the nurturing, supervised environment for their children, then don''t have them. The raising of children is the most important function of parents. The direction and quality of their lives is in the parents hands. How sad for the poor kids who are just existing, going further down the drain every day.

[wango2007-2009]

Posted by jumkey
You''''re equating $ex with lying, stealing and cheating? That just plain idiotic.
---------------------

Only idiotic to "anything goes" liberals. The common denominator between these 4 things is morality. People chose to moral or immoral. Most liberals hate the idea of morality, thus the intolerance toward religion.


Posted by jumkey
I am so so so so so tired of you religious nuts. Seriously. Go find a cave to live in, OK? You don''''t get to decide for me what I do with my body.
----------------------

We''re pretty tired of unthinking fascists liberals too. Society is not "personal freedom" at all costs, as you suggest. It is about personal responsibility. It used to be that even liberals understood that, but most are now just unprincipled libertines.

[denn034]

I repeat, there was no $ex or abstinence ed in the schools I attended from kindergarten to 12th Grade and here''s the result: No HIV infections, 2-3 STDs, and 1-2 pregnancies. The schools have it now and there are tons of HIV and STD infections as well as pregnancies. The only difference, kids are still kids after all and the permissiveness on TV and in music is the same, is $ex and abstinence ed. Telling kids how to have the $ex is the only variable. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that $ex and abstinence ed are the culprit. Period!

[denn034]

Every generation says parents of the past were better parents but, that''s nonsense. Parents tend to be the same from generation to generation. Period!

[frankson2]

Two words come to mind........HOLY MACKEREL!!! A one out of four statistic is almost unbelievable.

[irliberal]

Posted by denn034 at 04:42 PM

Wow... some people like denn034 are just shockingly ignorant. To oversimplify in such a manner is just appalling. I''m not sure if they were joking or if they actually *believe* the drivel that they wrote.

[nexxion-2009]

Hah, you expect me to believe half of black teenage women have STDs? Mind providing some more valuable information like the data that was gathered? I mean, it''s fine knowing your spin on it CBS, but I would rather know what makes this study credible among other things (Area of sample, how many samples, income, religion, education, etc...) and if it''s all on an equal playing field. I''ve searched number of articles related to this, including the CDC website itself, and yet nobody seems to be able to back up their ''facts'' with data. Anybody know where that can be found?

[hypnotoad72]

Every generation says parents of the past were better parents but, that''''s nonsense. Parents tend to be the same from generation to generation. Period!

Posted by denn034
----------------------

If that''s true, how does that fit with "evolution"? If you ask me, we''ve been devolving the last 30 years... that''s a generalization and there are exceptions to the rule, but there are problems afoot.

And, yes, the media is a valid target -- especially when the parents are unable, or unwilling, to do their jobs - with the schools saying it''s not their responsibility either.

One would think the "latch key" phenomenon would have had somebody hitting the brakes...

[hypnotoad72]

If it''s wrong to be in committed relationships, to not screw around, and so on, maybe these people can move to their own island and die from their own diseases.

Yes, everyone has urges. Yes, they can be contained. We are not guppies, dammit.

[bobnjersey]

[The only difference, kids are still kids after all and the permissiveness on TV and in music is the same, is $ex and abstinence ed. Telling kids how to have the $ex is the only variable. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that $ex and abstinence ed are the culprit. Period!]
[Posted by denn034 at 04:40 PM : Mar 11, 2008]

i''d say we could go to war w/ that logic.

[mrassekh]

There is no such thing as "safe ***" outside of marriage. Posted by mike71067 at 02:52 PM : Mar 11, 2008

As Elliot Spitzer''s wife now realizes, apparently it''s not safe inside marriage either.

[talkingham]

I''d like to see the numbers broken down by ethnicity, education, region,and family income, otherwise they are meaningless.

[bobnjersey]

[I''''ve searched number of articles related to this, including the CDC website itself, and yet nobody seems to be able to back up their ''''facts'''' with data. Anybody know where that can be found?]
[Posted by Nexxion at 05:19 PM : Mar 11, 2008]

here''s the press release:
http://www.cdc.gov/STDConference/2008/media/release-11march2008.htm

here''s the search phrase i used on the cdc site:

teenage girls std study

[hypnotoad72]

As Elliot Spitzer''s wife now realizes, apparently it''s not safe inside marriage either.

Posted by mrassekh
---------------------

That''s because Mr Elliott, like any jerk who''d cheat or play in bathrooms, has no sense of decency or concern for other people.

[ricknuber]

denn034:

That''s right, bozo...aggrandize the virtues ignorance. Following your logic, ending driver education would eliminate car accidents.

Unplanned pregnancies and STDs did not magically come into existence with *** ed. So much for your drivel.

[mediapreachr]

If we as a nation had real health care like they do in Europe or Canada,statistics like this wouldn''t exist.
But we''re looking more like Brazil or Mexico everyday.

[docofthebay]

There is no such thing as "safe s e x" outside of marriage. Posted by mike71067

That is ridiculous. What you really mean is that YOU think there is no such thing as "proper s e x" outside of marriage - there are definately way to keep it safe no matter WHO you "do", merried or not.

[denn034]

Okay Wiseguys,
Parents and kids are the same from generation to generation. Permissive influences, though they change forms, exist from generation to generation as well. Kids didn''t get HIV and STDs back when or the numbers were real low but, something changed and now kids are getting HIV and STDs left and right. Here''s my question: What''s changed?! As far as I can see, the addition of $ex and abstinence education is the only change. In the end, the numbers of HIV and STD infections keep increasing despite $ex and abstinence education so, what''s changed? Perhaps, the problem is $ex and abstinence ed to begin with and the climate of $ex in the schools that''s generated by it. It''s the only explanation I see. What''s changed if not $ex and abstinence ed being added?

[on_alert247]

The subject of this piece "1 in 4 US teen girls has STD" is grossly misleading. It should be prefaced with "Based on girls who participated in a govt. health survey". So under what circumstances would your daughter participate in such a survey? Perhaps if she was involved in risky behavior, poor, or attended inner city public schools. Not exactly a representative population of all teens.

This is the reporting that Big Pharma loves. Scare them into the Doctor''s Office so he can can put a synthetic drug made by Big Pharma full of side effects into their blood streams. When will this madness end?????

[dingyfox]

I wish to comment on your piece about STDS with teenage girls. WHY are there no mention about sexual activity of teenage boys, or STDS with boys and their contribution to the problem. Your piece was very sextist and one sided, it takes two to tango!

[gce65]

This is what moralizing and abstinence-only sseexx education produces: teens who know little about *** and related HEALTH ISSUES.

This doesn''t happen in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc.

Let the puss flow over America. It''s rotten anyway.

[gce65]

And the most ridiculous thing is that on a news website discussing STD''s (can I even write "STD?" I''d better find some way around it like SSS TTT DDD) even the word "SEKS" gets censored!
SSSSEEEEXXXX!
SEHX!
SSSSSSEX!
SEXXX!


CBS: What are you, a bunch of Puritans?

[keithle1]

"..the highest overall prevalence is among black girls - nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD."

That sounds very racist to me. Black girls are NOT nappy-headed h o s!

[hogwarts08]

Soon as my daughter turned 13 I explained all about the diseases on having ***. At their age they don''t think about protection like condoms. She understands and I pray she''ll remember when that time comes.

[hogwarts08]

dingyfox: you are so right. not too much mention about boys only the girls. i don''t why. boys can contract same diseases as the girls.

[anon671]

pharmaceutical reps start your engines!!! Propaganda.

The stats are shady. Doesn''t surprise me that RACIST CBS would release such faulty data in order to hurt black girls. Are you still angry about Imus? Get over it and stop being so RACIST.

[bobnjersey]

[WHY are there no mention about sexual activity of teenage boys, or STDS with boys and their contribution to the problem. Your piece was very sextist and one sided, it takes two to tango!]
[Posted by dingyfox at 07:05 PM : Mar 11, 2008]

the study is about sexually related disease in teenage girls. so discussing boys might be considered out of scope.