Understanding the STD statistics and STD rates by age, race, gender and sexuality is important for sexually active teens to realize STDs are a growing problem among teens and young adults. Increased education about STD symptoms, signs, what to look for and prevention tips are the best way to help stop the spread of these dangerous sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).
Teens having sex
Teens with STDs
- Out of 19 million Americans that get a new STD infection each year, about 9.1 million of them are teenagers and young adults aged 15 to 24.
- STD stats show, among those teenagers having teen sex, about one in four will contract an STD prior to adulthood
Most common types of STDs among teens
- Chlamydia: 40 percent of those with Chlamydia are teens aged ages 15 to 19. Teenage females were three times as likely as teenage males to carry this sexually transmitted disease. Black or African American individuals were eight times as likely to have Chlamydia as white people or other races.
- Gonorrhea: While overall a higher percentage of males are known to carry Gonorrhea, female teens ages 15 to 19 carry the highest rates of Gonorrhea of the total population infected. However the number difference between males and females who carry this sexually transmitted disease is minimal, although black females tend to show the highest rates among the total number of carriers. Overall, blacks had 20.5 times the Gonorrhea rates as whites.
- Syphilis: Syphilis rates increased the most among teens and young adults aged 15 to 24 during the past six years. Males tend to be the majority of syphilis carriers. Men who have sex with other men have a higher rate, nearly 80 percent, of the total number of males who are infected with this sexually transmitted disease. Black individuals have 9.1 times the reported syphilis rates compared to whites.
Teens, STDs and prevention
- Only 42.8 percent of teenage females have discussed STDs and STD testing with their health care professional during a routine check up.
- The statistics are even less with teenage males. Only 26.4 percent have discussed STD and STD testing with their doctor at a routine check up.
Based on the above STD statistics, it is clear that STDs are more prevalent among members of the black communities whether they be teens or adults. The Center for Disease Control is actively working and developing programs to close the disparity gap among races by using education tactics to decrease the overall number of teens affected by STDs. As a result, the CDC developed a STD/STI Framing Conversation Report that was released in 2010. Since the release of the STD report and increased efforts, there are some signs of progress being made among the minority cultures. However, there are still large disparities in the STD rates by age and race continuing to exist. The STD report provides suggestions and possible ways to take action to help fight the high number of STDs among teens and African Americans. Governmental as well as private sector agencies in the health care and medical fields are able to benefit from the report to continue in their work to combat this growing sexually transmitted disease dilemma.
Sources: cdc.gov, 4parents.gov, livestrong.com, avert.org, |
