Many Teenage Girls Underestimate STD Risk

"Most young women in this study, who were all sexually active and who demonstrated risk for STDs, did not perceive that they were at risk for infection," Dr. Kathleen A. Ethier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, told Reuters Health.

The study included 209 sexually active teen girls, most of whom were African American or Latina.

Over the course of 18 months, almost one out of four adolescent girls in the study were diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea, even though "most of those had predicted that there was little or no chance of that happening," the investigators report.

Rochester, NY where I have worked most of my career has had one of the highest gonorrhea rates in New York State. After a great deal of community education and outreach in the early 90s the rates went down so the Federal grant for a three year period was not renewed, but I understand that the rate has crept right back up there again. Apparently we are on to the next generation which again is either ignorant or neglects to utilize the information which could prevent the spread of these diseases.

MEDLINEplus: Many Teenage Girls Underestimate STD Risk: Study