Three million teenagers — about 1 of 3 sexually experienced teenagers — acquire an STD every year.
- In a single act of unprotected sex with an infected partner, a woman has a 1% risk of acquiring HIV, a 30% risk of getting genital Herpes, and a 50% chance of contracting gonorrhea, chlamydia and/or HPV.
Once another STD is contracted, the chances of acquiring HIV (AIDS)dramatically increase.
- Chlamydia is more common among teenagers than among older men and women; in some studies, up to 30% of sexually active teenage girls and 10% of teenage boys tested for STDs have been found to have chlamydia. Chlamydia causes PID and sterility.
- Teenagers have higher rates of gonorrhea than sexually active men and women aged 20-44.
- In some studies, up to 15% of sexually active teenage girls have been found to be infected with HPV, the virus that causes genital warts, and several strains of this virus are directly linked (99%) to cervical cancer.
- By the end of 1995, there were more than 2,300 teenagers known to have AIDS. They were infected years before…
- Teens are worried about getting AIDS & other STDs — 4 of every 10 teens say they worry…