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TAKING A CHANCE
Sexually transmitted diseases on the rise

By Karen Eschbacher
The Patriot Ledger

At first glance, the statistics are heartening: The number of Massachusetts teenagers giving birth fell to a 30-year-low in 2000.

But the positive picture the number paints may belie the truth about teenagers and safe sex.

Though becoming more savvy when it comes to preventing pregnancy, teens continue to engage in behavior that puts them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

• Forty-three percent of Massachusetts high school girls who had sex in the months before completing a 1999 survey did not use a condom, a Massachusetts Risk Assessment survey shows.
• About one-fourth of new cases of sexually transmitted diseases nationwide involve teenagers, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recorded hundreds of new cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia among 15 to 19 year olds between 1996 and 2000, from 2,935 to 3,827. Experts say that human papillomavirus, or HPV, a disease linked to genital warts and cervical cancer, is also widespread among teens, though statistics on the disease are not kept.
• The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families estimates that at least one-half of all new HIV infections are among young people under 25.

The jump in reported cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia can partially be explained by an increase in screening and improved detection technology, said Sylvie Ratelle, a medical consultant for the state Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Prevention.

But in general, teens are at high risk for the diseases because they have a series of short-lived relationships and are all too willing to take risks, experts said.

“The vast majority of clients who come to us, I mean the high 90 percentile, have had unprotected sex before they come in to do something about it,” said Rita Wood, program director for Hull Teen and Women’s Health.

And for those who are using pregnancy protection, a condom is not always the method of choice. In the 1999 state survey, 19 percent of students said they used the birth control pill, which is successful in keeping pregnancy rates low but does nothing to prevent sexually transmitted disease.

“Clearly the issue is they may be taking effective contraception and yet are not using condoms regularly,” Ratelle said.

Teens can get information about sexually transmitted diseases by logging on to www.iwannaknow.org. This site is sponsored by the American Social Health Association.

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