THURSDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Among teenage girls living
in U.S. cities, about half acquire at least one of three common sexually
transmitted infections -- chlamydia, gonorrhea or trichomoniasis -- within
two years of becoming sexually active, a new study has found.

The study of 381 girls, aged 14 to 17, also found that it was common
for these patients to have repeated infections.

"Depending on the organism, within four to six months after treatment
of the previous infection, a quarter of the women were re-infected with
the same organism," Wanzhu Tu, associate professor of medicine at the
Indiana University School of Medicine and an investigator at the
Regenstrief Institute, said in a university news release.

Subsequent sexually transmitted infections (not necessarily the same
type) were diagnosed within two years after an initial sexually
transmitted infection in about 75 percent of the girls, and within four
years in 92 percent of the girls, according to the report in the December
issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Tu and colleagues also found that screening for sexually transmitted
infections may not begin until several years after a girl begins sexual
activity, especially among those who become sexually active at a young
age.

"This is important because many clinicians are reluctant to address
sexual activity with younger teens, and may miss important prevention
opportunities," study senior author Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry, a professor
of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in the
news release.

Screening of sexually active teen girls should begin within a year
after first intercourse and retesting of infected girls should be done
every three to four months, the researchers said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more
about
sexually transmitted infections.