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Teens Have 70% Of STDs Locally, Statistics Show

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

lpeterson@tampatrib.com

Published: February 16, 2009

Sexually transmitted disease rates are soaring in the Tampa Bay area, with more than 70 percent of the cases among 15- to 19-year-olds.

At least 3 percent of all teens 15 and older in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties had an STD in 2007, more than twice the historically low rates of the early 1990s, according to Florida Department of Health records.

Infection rates across the state for 2008 haven't been calculated yet, but George Hughes, with the Hillsborough County Health Department, said his counts show that the local numbers are still going up, from 7,350 cases in 2007 to an early estimate of 8,500 last year.

He attributed some of the increase to better testing methods, but the main message of the numbers, he said, is that too many children are having unprotected sex. He called on public schools to quit relying on the message of abstinence and give young teens more information about condom use.

"They don't think kids are having sex," Hughes said. "They need to look at the numbers. They need to take their heads out of the sand."

Hillsborough's 2007 rate of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infection was the 13th highest in the state. Pinellas was 12th. Hamilton County, in North Florida, was at the top, with more than 5 percent of all 15- to 19-year-olds infected.

The fastest-growing of the STDs last year was chlamydia, which made up 70 percent of local cases. The 2008 gonorrhea and syphilis numbers were down slightly from 2007. But the drop wasn't enough to encourage Hughes. It follows several years of steady increases.

Hughes also worries about the number of undiagnosed cases.

"With people's lack of access to medical care, I'm sure there are many cases we haven't discovered," Hughes said.

One of the Hillsborough cases in 2007 was a 12-year-old girl with syphilis who was 6 months pregnant, Hughes said.

STD rates across the country rose in 2007, particularly chlamydia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Thousands of women become infertile each year because of untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea infections, said John M. Douglas Jr., director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention.

Syphilis cases, which number only in the thousands across the country, also rose modestly, while the number of gonorrhea cases remained roughly the same. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are not life-threatening, but left untreated, syphilis can kill.

Syphilis especially scares Hughes. "With syphilis we're dealing with sores and rashes. That's the perfect pathway for HIV. That concerns me to no end and should concern school officials."

In addition to giving more information in middle school, Hughes thinks condoms should be available in high school nurses' offices.

That's not likely to happen any time soon, said Hillsborough schools health education supervisor Steve Vanoer. "That's not really our place," he said. But he agreed that the prevention message could be stronger.

"We do discuss condoms in middle school, but I do think we could do more," he said.

Florida law requires public schools to teach abstinence as the "expected standard" for students. Some teach abstinence only, but many of the others, including in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, mention condoms as a method of prevention.

In Hillsborough, sex education starts in sixth grade and continues through high school.

"First and foremost we teach abstinence," Vanoer said. "We say 'refrain from sexual activity and if you're doing it, stop, and then get tested.'"

But the message goes on to warn those who don't stop to take precautions, Vanoer said. "We talk about condoms. We do not demonstrate condoms. We talk about the effectiveness of condoms."

Lawmakers have filed a bill this year that doesn't put so much emphasis on abstinence education. It says teachers should present abstinence as the only "certain way" to avoid pregnancy or disease. But it also requires them to provide information that is "comprehensive, medically accurate and factual," starting in the sixth grade.

State Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, filed the bill in the House. State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Delray Beach, filed the Senate version. Deutch filed a similar bill last year, but it failed.

One major opponent was the Florida Catholic Conference, which promoted an "abstinence-only" curriculum, arguing that children who learn about contraceptives in school are more sexually active.

But the U.S. Government Accountability Office reviewed studies of abstinence-based sex education and, in April, reported finding little evidence that the programs were successful.

Many studies of the programs weren't carried out scientifically, it said. The results of those that were valid were mixed. Some only measured what students said about being sexually active, not their actual behavior.

Another problem the report found was that the information in many education programs was not accurate.

"We can't sugarcoat what we tell students," Hughes said. "We need to give these kids the straight information. And they need it early."

But schools can only do so much, said Nat Harrington, a spokesman with the Palm Beach County School District, in Deutch's home county.

They can't replace what the children have learned at home, he said. "Parents are the first teachers. They give children their value systems.

"We can have an effect, but we cannot replace that value system."

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.

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