Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) are increasing rapidly and the numbers of those infected are predominately teenage girls.
    
  
    

Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention said, “Almost half of the new STI’s that occur each year are among young people 15- 24 years. Rates and consequences of chlamydia and gonorrhea are far more severe among women than men.” Additionally, in March of 2008, a study from Centers for Disease Control revealed that one in four teen girls from ages 14-19 in the United States had at least one sexually-transmitted disease.

Simply using a condom can drastically reduce your risk of contracting many STIs.

    The statistics reveal the facts, but one thing that still is not clear is why teenage girls might be afraid to get tested for STI’s. A 2006 survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS revealed that 61 percent of respondents 18 and older do not believe that they are at risk.
    
    Teenagers might be unaware of the benefits of getting tested, according to officials from Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio. They are eligible to receive confidential testing and treatment for as cheap as $10 and teens 13 and older do not need the consent of a parent or guardian to be tested or treated.
    
    “I think teens are afraid to get tested because they are afraid to be judged by adults,” Roselyn Muniz, a teen educator at Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio, said.
Dr. Diane Mitchell, an obstetrician-gynecologist and medical reviewer with the Food and Drug Administration, said, “They might feel uncomfortable, or not have insurance, or just not know they should be tested.”
   
    Sara Reed, public affairs coordinator of Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania, said, during an interview, “Even though Planned Parenthood encourages teenage girls to talk to their parents about sex, we also have to be realistic. Without their parents some teenagers may not have access to clinic[s].”



    On the contrary, others think the reason girls do not get tested is because their physicians do not suggest it. The Kaiser Survey revealed that 21 percent of those who have not been tested say it is because their doctor never recommended it.             
    
    Dr. Gale Burstein, a chlamydia researcher at John Hopkins University, agrees that the problem starts with the physician.

    “A sexually active adolescent woman is more likely to test positive for chlamydia than for tuberculosis, yet TB tests are done much more routinely,” Burstein said.