One in Four

A new study released by the CDC found that 25% of teenage American girls ages 14-19 have a sexually transmitted disease. The results are severely worse for African American girls, where 50% of those teens have an STD. The original BBC article can be found here. Hat Tip: Hot Air.

There is some concern over the small sample - the study only looked at a population of 838 girls - but if the same numbers are found consistent in larger studies, this could be a frightening trend for our young women.

More than anything, this shows that our methods of sex-ed have done nothing for our youth. Teaching strictly abstinence only keeps kids in the dark, but throwing condoms at them like confetti isn't effective either. And where the heck are the parents?

What irks me the most is the STD that was found to be most prevalent in these girls: HPV. Although it is good to know that so many girls are affected by this, no studies have been done on the other carriers (and spreaders) of the potentially cancer-causing virus: boys. Why has so much money been thrown at studying women? Don't get me wrong - it's a good thing - but it take two to tango if you catch my drift. We should not look at prevention for women as the end all. I feel like this is more of that "the girl is a ho" versus "the guy is a pimp" attitude. As far as women have come, we still are not equal with men in this sense, but that's a whole different conversation.

I only get into this subject, because there is a vaccine out for the most prevalent (and cancer causing) strains of HPV that they are recommending for most women between about age 9 and 26: Gardasil. More information about the vaccine and the virus can be found here.

There are plenty of naysayers out there working against the vaccine and the mandatory injections for young girls. I'm not a huge advocate of mandatory injections, but this one I would be. The anti-Gardasil crowd sites short trial periods for the vaccine and "statistical" evidence for harmful side-effects.

Let me clarify for people who don't know. The short trial period was legitimate since they had found a 100% efficacy in all the studies, preventing all of the group that received the vaccines from getting the covered strains of HPV as compared to the placebo group. The studies were cut short to make sure that the placebo group could be administered the vaccines as soon as possible. Not to mention, the drug studies and approval had already been done long before they had made it to the US. As for the "statistical" side effects? I looked at the studies. The side effects were no more statistically prevalent in the vaccinated group as in the general population.

Need more encouragement to get it? Cervical cancer, which is most often caused by HPV (of which the two most prevalent strains can now be vaccinated against) kills more that 3,700 women in the US alone each year.

Hate shots? Suck it up. I got my second shot in the set today, and, like my granddad would say, 't weren't nothin'. And no side effects at all so far, except for the normal vaccine stuff like minor pain at the injection site.

Note to Self: "I want to be one less."