Teenagers Have STDs. HPV is Everywhere.
Every once in a while, the government does a study that is actually worthy of our tax-payers money. One released this month by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tested the prevalence of four STDs in teenage girls. The STDs tested were human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamidia, genital herpes, and trichomoniasis (a common parasite). Hold on to your hat, because these four STD's were found in 25% of teenage females.25%.
4 STDs.
Holy. Moly.
The numbers are even more serious than they sound because, of the 838
young women surveyed in 2003/2004, only half admitted to having sexual
relations. The infection rate, then, is actually about 50% of those
admitting to having sex, which makes my brain hurt. (Now, keep in
mind, many teenagers don't consider oral sex "sexual relations," an act that can still transmit disease.)
The test is unique because it's the first that studied the prevalence of HPV. The disease is tricky because there are hundreds of strands of HPV, but only 35 are sexually transmittable. A few of those are linked directly to cervical cancer. In fact, two strands alone (16 and 18) are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancers. Very few HPV strands even show symptoms, and a woman can certainly be positive for HPV but still show no symptoms. By the way, the only real symptom before getting cervical cancer is genital warts, a symptom of many STDs. To complicate the situation, men aren't effected (that we know of yet) similarly; The most that may happen to a male are warts, but more often than not, men are carriers with no symptoms. In fact, up until a couple of years ago, there was no male HPV test. To top it all off, HPV is transmitted through skin to skin contact, which categorizes it as "highly communicable" in my book. No fluids need be exchanged at all. In fact, condoms aren't even that effective against HPV spread only because there can be plenty of contact before the actual act.
Again, this is the first test to study HPV's prevalence. Keep in mind that the test only looked for the the cancer-inducing strands of HPV. The results? 18% of the women surveyed tested positive for HPV. Almost 1 in 5. Holy. Moly.
It's particularly controversial because there are actual HPV vaccines available that stop the development of cancer from the two most dangerous strains. To be effective, like any other vaccine, it needs to be administered as early as possible in a lady's life. Some states are even considering making the vaccines mandatory. It has caused a reaction from some because they think their daughters will become town whores if they are inoculated against this disease. I have no patience for these people. Once again, anything to educate or protect the kids is spun as a whore-creating done-deal. These are the same people who promote abstinence. How well has that been going? Well, it's been Bush adminitration's main attempt at keeping down teen pregnancy and STD spreading. It's cost $1.5 billion. Almost 50% of sexually active teenage girls has an STD.
The other diseases in the study were chlamydia, which affected 4%; trichomoniasis, 2.5%; and herpes simplex virus, 2%. Of course, there was a racial divide that is always revealing: 50% of black women included in the survey had an STD.
Of the women surveyed, 15% had more than one of the four STDs.
Anyone else as alarmed by these findings? Ay yay.
The test is unique because it's the first that studied the prevalence of HPV. The disease is tricky because there are hundreds of strands of HPV, but only 35 are sexually transmittable. A few of those are linked directly to cervical cancer. In fact, two strands alone (16 and 18) are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancers. Very few HPV strands even show symptoms, and a woman can certainly be positive for HPV but still show no symptoms. By the way, the only real symptom before getting cervical cancer is genital warts, a symptom of many STDs. To complicate the situation, men aren't effected (that we know of yet) similarly; The most that may happen to a male are warts, but more often than not, men are carriers with no symptoms. In fact, up until a couple of years ago, there was no male HPV test. To top it all off, HPV is transmitted through skin to skin contact, which categorizes it as "highly communicable" in my book. No fluids need be exchanged at all. In fact, condoms aren't even that effective against HPV spread only because there can be plenty of contact before the actual act.
Again, this is the first test to study HPV's prevalence. Keep in mind that the test only looked for the the cancer-inducing strands of HPV. The results? 18% of the women surveyed tested positive for HPV. Almost 1 in 5. Holy. Moly.
It's particularly controversial because there are actual HPV vaccines available that stop the development of cancer from the two most dangerous strains. To be effective, like any other vaccine, it needs to be administered as early as possible in a lady's life. Some states are even considering making the vaccines mandatory. It has caused a reaction from some because they think their daughters will become town whores if they are inoculated against this disease. I have no patience for these people. Once again, anything to educate or protect the kids is spun as a whore-creating done-deal. These are the same people who promote abstinence. How well has that been going? Well, it's been Bush adminitration's main attempt at keeping down teen pregnancy and STD spreading. It's cost $1.5 billion. Almost 50% of sexually active teenage girls has an STD.The other diseases in the study were chlamydia, which affected 4%; trichomoniasis, 2.5%; and herpes simplex virus, 2%. Of course, there was a racial divide that is always revealing: 50% of black women included in the survey had an STD.
Of the women surveyed, 15% had more than one of the four STDs.
Anyone else as alarmed by these findings? Ay yay.
Well, one thing's for sure. If teens abstained, they wouldn't have any STD's. :) Simple, but true.
And I'm sure that if you gave teenagers this vaccine, they WOULD be more promiscuous. Sorry, but it's my opinion. &-(
I still love your site, John!
John- great post. In addition to knowing the prevalence rates, people need to know HOW to care for their bodies and minds. We need to continue to teach our fellow humans about these basic health issues. HPV prevention should be discussed like cold and flu prevention. Removing the stigma of 'sex education' and implementing basic health education into current junior and senior high school curricula is a great way to act eponymously with the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.
Jenn- if we continue to think that kids simply won't fool around, then we're fooling ourselves and creating public health threats. Every person is entitled to basic health education. And if you think YOU'RE immune, when was the last time your ob/gyn conducted a full screen? Given that basic gonorrhea and syphilis tests aren't included in regular check-ups, I'd say you're in for a pretty good scare while you wait for your results.
Know your body.