11 Facts About Teens and STIs

1. New estimates show that there are about 20 million new infections in the United States each year.
    
2. Young people age 15 to 24 account for 50 percent of all new STIs, although they represent just 25 percent of the sexually experienced population.
    
3. Roughly 75 percent of all reported gonorrhea is found in people age 15 to 29, with the highest infection rates found in teen girls age 15 to 19 and 20 to 24-year-old men.
    
4. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are more than 110 million STIs among men and women in the U.S. This includes both new and existing infections. 
    
5. The annual number of new infections is roughly equal among teen girls (51 percent) and teen guys (49 percent).
    
6. HPV (human papillomavirus) accounts for the majority of prevalent STIs in the U.S.
    
7. The U.S. has the highest rate of STD infection in the industrialized world.
    
8. 46% of American high school students have had sexual intercourse and potentially are at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, other STDs.
    
9. 6 in 10 sexually active high school teens reported using condoms during their most recent sexual intercourse.
    
10. 1 in 4 teens contracts an STD/STI every year.
     
11. Less than half of adults age 18 to 44 have ever been tested for an STD other than HIV/AIDS.

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Sexual Health Association, Kaiser Family Foundation, Child Trends Databank,