STDs in women

Teenage girls are more likely to contract STDs like chlamydia than women in their 20s, says a study.

Teenage girls are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia than women in their 20s, a research has revealed.

The research conducted by the Health Protection Agency has shown that showed that women aged 16 to 19 are 43 percent more likely to test positive for the infection than women as having a new sexual partner or having slept with more than two people in the last year was found to be common among half of the young girls tested.

44 percent of the women admitted having a new sexual partner in the preceding three months and/or two or more sexual partners in a year.

Unlike in women, the trend was reverse in men with most of 20-24 year olds more susceptible to the infection than the teenaged boys.

According to the Daily Mail, the first year results of a National Chlamydia Screening Programme published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, show that one in 10 women and one in eight men under the age of 25 tested positive for chlamydia.

"New lessons are being learnt on the process and outcomes of opportunistic screening and methods for enhancing its implementation in a diverse range of healthcare settings," researchers said.

"The National Chlamydia Screening programme will undoubtedly continue to make inroads into the prevention and control of this infection in England," they added.

The infection can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy in women and infertility in both men and women.

However, researchers are hopeful that the findings of this program would help them in understanding the distribution and determinants of the infection better.