STD Information
STD Risk Factors and Youth
For teens who are sexually active, the medical risks (not to mention the emotional risks) are troubling. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- There are 15 million new STD cases in the United States each year.
- Approximately one-fourth of these new infections are in teenagers.
- Infection rates of genital herpes continue to rise in all social, economic, racial and ethnic boundaries, but most dramatically in teens and young adults.
- Young women are biologically more susceptible to chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV.
It's also important to remember that while STDs are extremely common, they are also extremely difficult to track. Infected individuals often do not have symptoms and go undiagnosed. Even the diseases that are diagnosed are frequently not reported and counted, so the visibility of the STD epidemic remains low, while the risks to our teens remains high.
According to the Medical Institute on Sexual Health, sexually transmitted diseases are no longer confined to one age group or area of the country – these diseases are everywhere. While particularly common in teens and young adults, STDs – including HIV/AIDS – have become more common even in adults over 50. Sexually transmitted diseases occur among people with different educational backgrounds, in every income bracket, among members of all races and in both genders. But females carry a disproportionate burden of negative consequences from STDs. For some STDs, a female who is exposed to an infected sexual partner is more likely to become infected, and once infected, females experience more health-compromising disease complications.
STDs: The Often Overlooked Teenage Disease (pdf)
STD Contact Information
National Hotlines
CDC National STD Hotline - (800) 227 – 8922
CDC National HIV/AIDS Hotline (800) 342-AIDS
For additional information, contact:
Idaho Dept. of Health & Welfare, STD/AIDS Program – (208) 334-6527