14 DAY TRIAL // Just talk to the teens about abstinence. And add to the formula teens' sense of invulnerability. Here is the conclusion: at least one quarter of the American teen girls have a sexually transmitted disease.
This is the result of a study led by Dr. Sara Forhan with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and presented at an STD prevention conference in Chicago. STDs can provoke infertility and cancer, that's why this is a warning signal for better screening, vaccination and prevention.
Around 50% of the girls in the research pool admitted having sex, but some teens regarded sex as only intercourse, even if oral or anal sex too can spread STDs, like HPV and even HIV. In the case of the subjects admitting to have had sex, the levels of STD infections boomed to 40%.
Of the 838 subjects, aged 14 to 19, 26% had STDs. Overall, this would translate to over 3 million infected girls at national level in the US.
The data was gathered in 2003-04, and the girls were checked for four infections: human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus responsible for cervical and other types of cancers, found present in 18% of the subjects; chlamydia, in 4% of the cases; trichomoniasis, 2.5%; and genital herpes, 2%. Black teens were 2.5 times more likely to have an STD (almost 50%) compared to Whites and Mexican-Americans (20%).
HPV can induce genital warts, but often has no symptoms.
"A vaccine targeting several HPV strains recently became available, but it probably hasn't yet had much impact on HPV prevalence rates in teen girls," said Dr. John Douglas, director of the CDC's division of STD prevention.
Chlamydia can cause infertility and in many cases it has no symptoms; the bacterium can be killed with antibiotics. Trichomoniasis, which can be treated with antibiotics, provokes vaginal discharge and painful urination. Genital herpes induces sometimes blisters, but it is often asymptomatic; it cannot be completely eliminated, but drugs control it.
This shows "the national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
"Sexuality is still a very taboo subject in our society. Teens tell us that they can't make decisions in the dark and that adults aren't properly preparing them to make responsible decisions," said sex education expert Nora Gelperin, who works with a teen-written Web site called sexetc.org.
"Teens need to hear the dual message that STDs can be prevented by abstinence and condoms. There are a lot of myths out there, too - many sexually active teens think the withdrawal method will protect them, or that douching with Coca-Cola will kill STD germs," said Dr. Ellen Kruger, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Ochsner Medical Center, in New Orleans.