Teens, STDs & Consequences
This story has been broadcast across the internet and the media, including the social networks. It’s one of the front page stories on Digg and there are even posts on social sites calling American teen girls “sluts”.
One particularly irksome story warns guys to “double wrap” so they don’t get contaminated. (This is particularly offensive to me as a female, because it implies that males have played no part in the spread of these diseases.)
According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly one in four teen girls in their study had an active sexually-transmitted disease. The study shows that more than 3 million teens are infected. But those figures don’t tell the whole story.
Of the girls (aged 14-19) included in the study, only half acknowledged ever having sex. This means that 50% of the girls (one of every two) who are sexually active also have an active sexually transmitted disease.
We need to remember that the study involved less than 1000 young women between the ages of 14-19, so while those statistics can probably be nationally representative, they may not be accurate in EVERY demographic group. But obviously something needs to be done.
As parents, we need to become informed about what these diseases can mean to the future mothers of our nation.
- There are several strains of the number #1 sexually transmitted disease, which is human papillovirus, or HPV. While there has been a lot of controversy about giving the newly-developed vaccine (in some cases, to girls as young as 11), the key thing to remember is that HPV can cause cervical cancer.
- The second most common infection was chlamydia, which can lead to sterility.
- The third most common, and most easily cured, is trichomoniasis which can lead to premature birth and low birth weight, leading to infant deaths.
- The #4 STD, Herpes Simplex virus, is incurable, so the infected patient now carries, and potentially transmits, the virus for the rest of her life.
In addition to these disturbing facts, there are other considerations to be concerned with.
- Contracting any of these diseases gives a young woman (or man) a greater susceptibility to HIV, if exposed.
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All of these diseases directly affect any child born to an infected woman:
- Trichomoniasis, because of the inability to carry the pregnancy full-term.
- The other three because the infections can be passed to the infant at birth, causing life long problems for the infant or death.
One final fact that I’d like to mention is something else these statistics tell us. Nearly half the African-American teens in the study had at least one STD, compared with 20 percent among both caucasian and Mexican-American teens.
I can’t begin to explain how we have gotten to this point in our society, and it wouldn’t change matters even if I could.
All I know is that this is a tragedy for our country.
When I worked in NeoNatal Intensive Care, I saw and tended to infants who were struggling to stay alive, for one reason or another, usually a premature birth. ‘Preemies’ have a much better chance of staying alive now than just a few years ago, but it is still touch-and-go for them. We need to work toward providing every infant an opportunity for a healthy birth.
I don’t know what a workable solution to the problem is, but I do know that calling American girls “sluts” is not the solution!
Brennan the RN
