Sex Infections found in 26 percent Teenage Girls

Sexually Transmitted Diseases appear to be a major problem among young girls in America, reveals a recent federal study showing 26 percent of American female teens have at least one STD. The rate translates into an estimated 3.2 million U.S. girls in the age group 14-19; suffer infections such as human papillomavirus or HPV, chlamydia, genital herpes or trichomoniasis.

15 per cent of those surveyed had more than one disease. The incidence was highest among African-American girls.

“What we found is alarming. This means that far too many young women are at risk for the serious health effects of untreated STDs, including infertility and cervical cancer,” said CDC’s Dr Sara Forhan, who led the study.

The study involved an analysis of 838 teenage girls between who participated in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an annual study that assesses a broad range of health issues.

Lack of sex education and the sense of invulnerability among teens, could be the probable reasons for such high rates of STDs.

Some of the diseases may result in infertility and cancer, citing which the U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention.

The most common STD was HPV, which was seen in 18 percent of women. It causes not just cervical but throat and other cancers, as well as genital warts.

It was followed by chlamydia, which affected 4 percent of the girls surveyed, trichomoniasis, which affected 2.5 percent and herpes simplex virus 2, which affected 1.9 percent.

“It shows that what people have always suspected is true. Sexually transmitted infections have been called a hidden epidemic because a lot of these conditions are going to be asymptomatic when they're diagnosed, but they're highly common,” said Dr. Emily J. Erbelding, an infectious diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Only half of the girls surveyed, admitted having sex, and among those almost 40 percent had STDs.

"I think it's a wake-up call for parents and for the medical system," said Alina Salganicoff, vice president for women's health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park. "Clearly, this is a really important part of adolescent health that we need to be paying attention to."