Just 20 years ago, there were two venereal diseases. Today, teens are catching over 50 different viruses, many of which will plague them for life or will even kill them.
Today's TV shows, films and music depict casual sex as common, carefree and glamorous. But the alarming rise in sexually transmitted diseases among teens has quickened physicians and abstinence experts to end the silence on the ugly infections that come with casual sex.
Abstinence advocate Lakita Garth speaks regularly at school assemblies, warning young people of the dangers of sex outside of marriage. Garth told one group of teens, "The common cold is no longer the most commonly reported virus anymore. It is now STD’s. Eight out of 10 people that go to the doctor that have a virus have an STD. And the majority of ‘em are coming from your peer group, junior high and up from college."
While teens have been taught about the risks of HIV, the dangers of nearly 25 other diseases have not reached young people.
This year alone, between two to four million teens will contract a sexually transmitted disease. Every day, 8,000 teens will become infected with a new STD. One in five teens believes oral sex is safe sex. And as a result, record numbers of teens are contracting herpes of the mouth, a strain that for decades was usually associated with the genitals.
Teens are five times more likely to get herpes today than in 1970. And nearly half of those infected with chlamydia and gonorrhea this year will be teenagers. If left untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease or PID which can leave women sterile.
The Human Papilloma Virus, better known as HPV, is the most prevalent STD. HPV is responsible for 99.7 percent of all cervical cancers and kills nearly 5,000 women each year. Forty-six percent of teenage girls will contract HPV after their first sexual intercourse. And recent studies show condoms are not effective in preventing the spread of HPV.
All these statistics reflect the challenges health officials are facing. Since they are not just trying to diagnose and treat one disease but the multiple strains each virus has now.
Officials warn STD rates will only keep rising since the diseases rarely show outward signs of infection, so most of those who are infected do not even know it.
Those promoting STD awareness say sexually active young people need to know they are on the road to catching a disease that may cost them their lives.
