A Quarter of American Teenage Girls Will Acquire STD

There has been much controversy surrounding the government-funded abstinence-only programs and determining whether or not they have done anything to curb teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Does promoting abstinence to American youth while holding back on teaching about contraceptives inspire them to remain celibate or does it keep them in the dark about the harsh realities of sex before marriage? A new study published last month in the journal “Pediatrics” shows that up to 25% of all teenaged girls in the United States have contracted a sexually transmitted disease, usually after their very first sexual experience.

Dr. Sami Gottlieb, from the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention, and the author of the study, states, “The high burden of STDs among teen girls reminds us that we can’t ignore this. Sexual health is an important part of the overall health and well-being of teenagers. For too long, we as a nation have been far too squeamish about sexual health issues for teens, but we owe it to our kids to get over it.” The study used data from over 800 teenaged girls between the ages of 14 and 19. The sexually transmitted diseases that were researched were herpes simplex virus type 2, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, Trichomonas vaginalis and human papillomavirus (HPV). The most common disease amongst the girls was HPV with over 18% having contracted it. Overall, approximately 24% of the teenaged girls had contracted one of these sexually transmitted diseases; this number jumped to 37% for those teenaged girls who had more sexual experiences.

The data also reflected that in the twelve months after these teenaged girls had sex for the first time with one person, just over 19% of them had acquired a sexually transmitted disease. Gottlieb stressed that in order to combat these issues, teenagers need to have sex education courses taught earlier. She states, “The vast majority of people have sex for the first time during their teenage years, so we need them to be prepared.” Gottlieb also feels strongly that girls should get their HPV vaccine around the ages of 11 and 12. She says, “We have an effective and safe vaccine that can prevent most of the bad consequences of HPV infection — cervical cancer.” In addition, she feels teenage girls should be tested yearly for Chlamydia and states, “This can prevent some of the adverse consequences of chlamydia, such a pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.”

A strong supporter of comprehensive sexual education and the director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University, Dr. David Katz, states that “the authors make a convincing case that rates of both sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections are high in adolescent females in the U.S. These are the facts of epidemiology, not ideology, and should be the basis for public health policy. Adolescent girls need early access to comprehensive sex education, and barrier contraceptives. This will not increase sexual activity, but it will attenuate the resultant harms.” As the father of two teenage girls, Katz also feels strongly that the data from this study shows the necessity for vaccinating against HPV.