From foodconsumer.org
Survey: Sexually transmitted diseases commonly found in teenager girls
By Sue Mueller
Mar 12, 2008 - 1:52:14 PM
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WEDNESDAY March 12, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Federal health officials Tuesday cited the first national study of four common sexually transmitted diseases in girls and young women saying 25 percent of the surveyed participants were infected with at least one of the diseases.
Among the teenagers aged 14 to 19, almost half the black girls were infected with at least one of the common diseases including human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, genital herpes and trichomoniasis, a common parasite.
For white teenagers, the rate of infection with at least one disease was 20 percent, the government officials and researchers said at a news conference held during a scientific meeting in Chicago.
The two most common sexually transmitted disease or STD among all the subjects tested were HPV at 18 percent and chlamydia at 4 percent, according to the study, part of the National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey.
The study also found of the infected, 15 percent had more than one STDs.
The infected women may not be aware they are actually infected with the diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites although they may experience some acute symptoms like irritating vaginal discharge, pelvic inflammation and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy or in rare cases infertility and cervical cancer, Chicago Tribune reported.
For more information on the common sexually transmitted diseases, read the following:
STD Facts - Chlamydia