HIV From Heterosexual Sex Soars Among Teen Girls
By Suzanne Rostler
Originally published by Reuters Health, July 20, 2001
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Teenage girls' rate of HIV infection from heterosexual sex rose by nearly 117% between 1994 and 1998, US researchers report.
According to their study, based on data from 25 US states, females aged 15 to 19 years also experienced a 90% increase in the rate of HIV infection due to injection drug use during the same period.
"As young women reach the age where HIV risk behaviors like drug use and sexual activity are initiated, the number and rate of HIV diagnoses increase," study co-author Dr. Lisa M. Lee, told Reuters Health. "This signals the need for intensive, focused, culturally appropriate HIV prevention efforts among adolescent women before they initiate risk behavior."
HIV infection rates due to both heterosexual contact and injection drug use among older women remained stable or declined, Lee and colleague Dr. Patricia L. Fleming report in the summer issue of the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. Both researchers are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Overall, the annual rate of HIV infection among women of reproductive age declined 12% from 1995 to 1998. HIV-infected women were more likely to be black, under 35 years of age and to have been exposed through heterosexual contact.
Between 1994 and 1998, HIV infection rates declined in the Northeast and West but rose in the southern and central states that reported data.
While it is not clear from the study why HIV infection rates rose within some groups and declined in others, the researchers suggest that prevention coupled with consistent condom use can help control the spread of HIV among all groups.
"It is clear that culturally and educationally sensitive HIV prevention messages must reach young women before risk behaviors are initiated. Additionally, early identification of HIV infection and access to care and prevention for HIV-infected women are critical," Lee said.
