CDC study finds 1-in-4 teen girls has an STD; recommends screening, vaccination, education

CHICAGO An alarming number of teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: slightly more than one-quarter.

The overall rate of STDs among the 838 girls in the study was 26 percent, translating to more than 3 million nationwide, the Associated Press reported.

About half of the girls surveyed admitted to having sex—though their definitions of what that consisted of varied—and among those, the number with an STD climbed to 40 percent.

The new study, by CDC researcher Sara Forhan, actually relied on slightly older data from nationally representative records on girls ages 14 to 19 who participated in a 2003-04 government health survey. The director of the CDC’s division of STD prevention, John Douglas, has stated that the data still likely reflect current prevalence rates.

The teens were tested for human papillomavirus, chlamydia, trichomoniasis and genital herpes. HPV prevalence was significantly higher than the others, accounting for 18 percent of the STD cases, with the others all reporting a rate below 5 percent.

Many doctors feel that the prevalence of STDs is due, in part, to the government’s abstinence-only policy in sex education. Teens, they say, are simply not getting the information that would enable them to protect against these diseases.

The CDC recommends that teens get routinely screened and educated about prevention. Kevin Fenton, the CDC’s Director for the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention said given the dangers of some STDs, “screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities.”