US youth ages 15-24 half of STDs

Sexually transmitted diseases affect individuals of all ages, but STDs take a particularly heavy toll on young people, U.S. health officials say. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimated U.S. teens and adults ages 15-24 make up just 27 percent of the sexually active U.S. population, but account for half of the 20 million new STDs that occur in the United States each year. Young Americans account for 70 percent of the 820,000 gonorrhea infections among all ages, 63 percent of the 2.9 million chlamydia infections, 49 percent of the 14 million human papillomavirus infections, 45 percent of the 776,000 genital herpes infections and 20 percent of the 55,400 syphilis infections. Americans ages 13-24 account for 26 percent human immunodeficiency virus of the 47,500 HIV infections among all ages, the report said. Among youth 15-24, 200,000 cases of gonorrhea are diagnosed and reported, while the estimated total number of new infections is 570,000. One million cases of chlamydia are diagnosed and reported among youth 15-24, while the estimated total number of new infections among this population is 1.8 million. "Many young women don't receive the chlamydia screening CDC recommends. Many youth are reluctant to disclose risk behaviors to doctors," the report said.