During the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference in Chicago , the researchers at ‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ presented a paper pointing out to an alarming increase in large number of cases of teenaged girls and adolescent women being infected by sexually transmitted infections. It also stressed upon on addressing the prevention of these diseases as an important public health goal.
The paper was based on an investigation of data reported in the ‘2003-04 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey’ done among a sample of 14- to 19-year-old girl participants. It was found that approximately one-fourth of this population sample was infected by at least one of the sexually transmitted infections, the maximum number of instances reported in the case of human papillomavirus. Other major infections were reported for the infections like ‘Chlamydia Trachomatis’ and ‘Trichomonas Vaginalis’. A small chunk of this group was also had herpes simplex virus type II and the one infected by STD had more than one infections. It reported about 1 in 4 female adolescents being infected by at least one sexually transmitted infection.
This is one of its own kinds of study which unlike previous studies reporting about individual infections or done among certain populations has attempted to study the overall prevalence of these infections in relation with common STDs.
Mitchell B. Miller who had presided over the ‘Medical Society of Virginia’ in the past commented upon this data as eye opening upon failure to control the challenge in terms of prevention at the national level.
Kevin Fenton, Director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention in the light of these data laid emphasis on prioritizing STD screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women to take care of this health concern. Other health experts also carried similar opinion adding that the statistics also point out to the pitfalls of current sex education programs, especially which talk about abstinence as the only way to control these infections.
American Medical Association’ stressed upon family life education which should be more scientifically designed and which could be effectively imparted both at the school and at the home. Such policy has been evidently effective in combating the problem of sexually transmitted infections among the adolescents at risk. It also emphasized on inclusion of information about the HPV vaccine in the high-school curriculum and rules out the possibility of abstinence to be the sole way to control this effectively.
This study also tried to see the long term effects of these infections on a woman’s health, thinking of probabilities of cervical cancer and Chlamydia, a major cause of infertility. The authors of this study have clearly emphasized on the need for widespread STD screening in this age group and vaccination against HPV supported by AMA policy which also speaks about desirable changes in related legislation for its prevention, diagnosis and treatment. They also advocated about making the HPV vaccine cheaper and better integration of contraception and STD services.
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