Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993 TAG: 9308200037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
They warned that gonorrhea, which could signal possible AIDS infection, also could make teen-agers more vulnerable to AIDS even if they haven't yet been exposed to that deadly disease.
"We need people to say, `What the heck is going on here?' " said Dr. Stuart Berman of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gonorrhea is one of the nation's most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. About 544,000 cases were diagnosed in 1991, one-third of them in teen-agers.
It is curable but can cause infertility, heart and joint problems if not caught early. About half those infected with gonorrhea don't experience symptoms, which can include pain and discharge.
For every 100,000 girls ages 15 to 19, 1,043 cases of gonorrhea were reported in 1991, the latest data available.
The rate was 595 for women in their 20s and 47.5 for those age 30 and older.
Boys ages 15 to 19 recorded the second-highest rate of infection: 882. For men in their 20s the rate was 779 and for men 30 and older it was 145.
Most troubling, the CDC said, is that infections in younger children - ages 10 to 14 - rose to record heights from 1981 to 1991.
Ninety-nine cases were reported per 100,000 girls ages 10 to 14 in 1991, up from 65 in 1981. That rate peaked at 102.3 in 1990.
For boys that age, the rate was 32.4 in 1991, up from 23 in 1981.
The rate of infection among adults, meanwhile, has dropped every year since 1986.
Gonorrhea, like other sexually transmitted diseases, is more easily caught by women.
Gonorrhea infection indicates unprotected sex - which means that person also is more at risk for AIDS.
"We don't know exactly what these extremely high rates of gonorrhea mean for AIDS in adolescents, but it's very worrisome," Berman said. "Our kids are not being adequately protected."
He said more needs to be done to get the message across to teen-agers that they must use a condom to protect themselves during sex.
by CNB