WASHINGTON, DC - Prompted by the alarming statistics on the incidence and costs of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United STATES, called a blue-ribbon panel of medical today for a national campaign against this epidemic under-reported.
Each year more than 12 million people in the United States, a quarter of them teenagers, are infected with STDs or suffer long -term effects such as pelvic inflammatory disease - a rate infection much higher than in other developed countries, said the panel, which was appointed by the Institute of medicine. Many of these diseases - including herpes and STDs "modern" such as hepatitis B and AIDS - are caused by viruses and are thus difficult or impossible to cure. The overall picture, said David Celentano School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, is "a national disgrace."
In a report entitled "The hidden epidemic", the committee, led by internist William T. Butler, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston reconstructed a disturbing picture emerges in the scientific literature and government data. Here are some highlights:
-
* Teens are the most at risk of contracting STDs group but only 11% of adolescents reported got the facts of life --basic information about sex, that is -. parents
* By 12th grade, 70% of teens have had sex, and nearly 40% of them have had four or more partners
* In 1994, pelvic inflammatory disease has accumulated the most medical expenses -. $ 4.15 billion -. any STDs other than AIDS
* US Gonorrhea rates are 50 times higher than they are in Sweden.
The exposure to STDs is commonplace and "hidden" for a number of reasons, the report said. He said that parents and teachers do not like to talk about negative consequences of sex, some doctors are ignorant of the insidious nature of STDs, and many problems have no symptoms in the early stages, particularly in women. Increased awareness of AIDS and how it spreads is forcing the MST on the closet, said Celentano, a committee member. "Probably the number one risk [factor] HIV is an STD," he said.
The report calls for a national campaign to educate the public and doctors about STDs and believes that health care providers must make a special effort to monitor and treat the partners of STD patients. This recommendation, Butler said, aims to bacterial infections easily curable such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.
0 Komentar