The Centre of Disease Control and Prevention has released an analysis of teenage sexual health trends which state that more teenagers than ever are getting pregnant or contracting sexually transmitted diseases. The rates of teenage births, AIDs and syphilis are all higher than they have been in years.
16,000 of the 745,000 cases of pregnancies reported in 2004 were amongst 10 to 14 year olds. Around one million of these young people aged 10 to 24 also had chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea. Furthermore, 45 percent of those aged 20 to 24 were infected with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, between 2003 and 2004.
The study has highlighted numerous concerns for the sexual health and wellbeing of young people today, with so many teenagers becoming pregnant or risking their reproductive health with damaging STD’s. The trends being noted by the CDC are worrying, given that the education regarding sexual health is at an all-time high. The study showed surprising results for many factors of teenage sexual health, such as Hispanic teens between 15 and 19 years of age being more likely to become pregnant than non-Hispanic black or white teens.
Certain areas of sexual health rates have seen a gradual slide in recent years, such as teen birth rates increasing between 2006 and 2007, after dramatic declines between 1991 and 2005. Likewise, the number of AIDS cases amongst men aged between 15 and 24 years old also increased between 1997 and 2006, rates of which reflect the number of cases in which those already infected with HIV progressed to contract AIDS. The number of cases of syphilis in young people aged between 15 and 19, and 20 to 24, has also increased in recent years in both men and women. The study has been an insightful look into the sexual health trends of young people, highlighting the problem areas which need to be worked on.
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