25% Infected: According to a new study, one in four teenage girls has been infected with an STD. Lindsey Davidson / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, presented at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference, estimated one in four teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease.
The study also found nearly half of young African American women were infected with an STD.
Kate Welch, a senior in English, said she didn’t remember STDs being so wide-spread when she was in high school and is amazed that it has grown so much in just a few years.
“I think girls are becoming more sexually active at a young age, and they don’t know how to protect themselves from STDs,” Welch said.
The Women’s Hope Clinic of Auburn offers STD testing performed in three visits to the clinic. The first visit is used for filling out paper work and background information, and the second and third visits are used for the physical exam and discussing lab results.
“There is a tremendous need (for STD screenings), in fact we can’t even manage all the clients that call,” said Julie Klarenbeek, registered nurse manager at the clinic.
According to the CDC, it is critical for young women to have STD screenings included in their health services.
When emergency contraception visits occur, it usually means the woman had unprotected sex and should also be issued an STD screening.
Only 38 percent of young women who have received emergency contraceptives also received STD/HIV counseling, according to the same CDC study.
Klarenbeek believes the reason there is such an increase today is because young people are sexually active with more partners than they were 20 years ago.
“With the increase of acceptance of sex, more young people are doing it,” said Melissa Holmes, a junior in elementary education.
With the human papillomavirus and chlamydia being the most common STDs in young women, the CDC recommends annual screenings for sexually active women under the age of 25 and women between the ages of 11 and 26 to complete the series of shots for the vaccination against HPV.
“I believe the HPV vaccine could help protect girls from STDs, and I think it’s a good a idea (to get it),” Welch said.
Although some young women can be led to believe the HPV vaccine is beneficial to them, there is not enough research out there to show that it is truly effective, according to the study.
“The misconception of getting the vaccine is that there are 30 types of HPV, 12 of which can cause cervical cancer, and the vaccine covers only two of them,” Klarenbeek said.
Klarenbeek said, although the vaccine does cover the most common virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts, people still don’t understand it is covering a small portion of the HPV virus.
Effective STD prevention programs include school-based health clinics specifically for contraceptives and STD screening, and express visit options at city clinics. School clinic visits resulted in 85 to 94 percent and with the option of express visits, the STD diagnoses increased by 17 percent.
Although many people believe condoms provide protection against these viruses, abstinence is the only 100 percent sure protection.
“Research that is out there regarding condoms (show they) only protect 80 percent of HIV if used 100 percent of the time,” Klarenbeek said.
March 28, 2008 - 11:38am
Abstinence
I want to thank Ms. McGuinn (the author) especially for pointing out that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent contraction of an STD (it's also less expensive). In real life you can't indulge any desire you please without facing the consequences. There's no magic pill you can take to allow you to pass a difficult class without putting in any effort or still get payed when you don't show up to work; in the same way, there's no magic device or pill you can use to prevent you from getting an STD (or getting pregnant) if you sleep around. Animals might be slave to their desires, but we are human, able to think out our actions. If you don't want an STD to ruin your life, be chaste until marriage.