The Center for Disease Control released estimates that 26% of U.S. young women between 14 and 19 is infected with at least one of the most common STDs. What that means is that 3,200,000 teenage girls have HPV, chlamydia, herpes, and or trichinosis .

According to the study's principal investigator, Sara Forhan, M.D., M.P.H., African-American teenage girls were most severely affected. Nearly half of the young African-American women - 48% - or 1,536,000 were infected with an STD, compared to 20 percent of young white women.

“High STD infection rates among young women, particularly young African-American women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk,” said John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “STD screening and early treatment can prevent some of the most devastating effects of untreated STDs.”

CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for sexually active women under the age of 25. CDC also recommends that girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26 who have not been vaccinated or who have not completed the full series of shots be fully vaccinated against HPV.

The study of STDs among teenage girls is one of several presented today at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference that highlights the significant burden of STDs among girls and women, and identifies creative prevention strategies for reducing the toll of STDs in the United States.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner('s Place) ain't got nothing more to say.

SjP

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