Posted Tuesday --- March 11, 2008 -- 10:00pm

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says one in four teenage girls has at least one Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). If your teenage daughter has three girl friends chances are one of them has a sexually transmitted disease.

The CDC says one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease. It's a trend that while alarming is not surprising to those who work in reproductive care. Deborah Hobbins is the regional vice president for Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin. She says cases of certain STDs are up. "We actually are seeing an increase in Chlamydia in Dane county. We do know that that's occurring, so I would assume we probably model the national findings as well," explained Hobbins.

The CDC screened over 800 teen girls for HPV, Chlamydia, Herpes, and Trichomoniasis. The CDC also found girls who say they've only had sex once have a one in five chance of being infected. "These numbers translate into 3 point 2 million women, age 14 to 19 who are infected with an STD," said CDC lead researcher, Dr. Sara Forhan.

The prevalence among black teens is even more alarming. The CDC says almost half have an STD, but not because they're having riskier sex, but because there's a higher prevalence of those diseased in the black community. Also, of teens who get tested for pregnancy, less than half of them were tested for STDs. Meantime, organizations say they teach abstinence, but also know kids will be kids. So they work to educate kids on sexuality. "Kids think it's only vaginal intercourse, but it's many risky behaviors beyond that, that happen beyond that, that put teens at risk," explained Hobbins.

Planned Parenthood says education is key to preventing sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases in teens. "If someone comes in with concerns, we not only want to treat them for their sexually transmitted infection, but we want to educate them so they never have to come back for that issue again," said Hobbins.

In Wisconsin, the Department of Health and Family Services has statistics on STDs. It doesn't break down STDs by gender amongst teens, but in 2006 it reports nearly 10,000 diagnosed cases of STDs in teens. "It is not something which is widely spoken about in part because of the stigma associated with STDs but it is also hidden because many sexually transmitted diseases have no symptoms at all," said CDC's, Dr. Kevin Fenton.

It's important to note, STDs can cause infertility or lead to cervical cancer. The most common STDs cited in the study: HPV, Chlamydia, herpes, and Trichomoniasis. The CDC says overall STDs cost the U.S. more than 15 billion dollars every year.

To view statistics from Wisconsin's DHFS:
http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/communicable/STD/Statistics.htm

To check out the CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/