Study: 1 in 4 Teen Girls Has an STD

About 1 in 4 U.S. teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease, a study has found. About half the girls in the study said they had had sexual intercourse. The rate of STDs was about 4 in 10 for those girls. The study was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It included 838 teen girls who had taken part in a national health survey. They were tested for four infections. About 18% had human papillomavirus. This infection can cause cervical cancer. Chlamydia affected 4%. About 2.5% had trichomoniasis, and 2% had herpes simplex virus. The Associated Press wrote about the study March 11.