Summary: 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has an STD

A CDC study estimated that 1 in 4 (26%) young women between the ages of 14-19 years old in the United States are infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

• A CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) study estimates that 1 in 4 (26%) young women between the ages of 14-19 years old in the United States are infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. This means that approximately 3.2 million teenage girls have human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, or trichomoniasis. The study, which was presented at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference, is the first to examine the combined national prevalence of common STDs among adolescent women in the United States and provides the clearest picture to date of the overall STD burden in adolescent women. The study also found that African-American teenage girls were most severely affected. Almost half of all the African-American women (48%) were infected with an STD, compared to 20% of young white women. The two most common STDs overall were HPV (18%) and chlamydia (4%) and the data was based on the analysis of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.¹

¹Nationally Representative CDC Study Finds 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has a Sexually Transmitted Disease, 2008 National STD Prevention Conference, Press Release, March 11, 2008.