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A small Georgia study has resulted in some very big concerns in that department.
Few of the 59 HIV-positive Georgia teenagers in the study were aware of the risks of unprotected sex and some were not treated for HIV/AIDS for months after their diagnosis.
Only a fifth of the teens - ages 13 to 19 - were diagnosed within six months of being infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in releasing the study results.
CDC officials studied the adolescents at an undisclosed Georgia HIV clinic between 1999 and 2002.
Most of the infected teens discovered they were HIV-positive through routine screenings and a third of the 35 girls in the study were pregnant at the time of their diagnosis. Only four requested testing because of health concerns.
More than half of the HIV-positive boys regularly had sex with other men. The girls studied were heterosexual.
About 8 percent of the teens had already developed AIDS when they were diagnosed HIV positive and 16 teens had other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis or gonorrhea.
Most of the teens received treatment within two months of their diagnosis, but some did not seek care until up to 108 days after they tested positive.
The CDC said that it may be difficult to reach peers of the study's urban teen group, most of whom were black and from high poverty areas. Many of them had dropped out of school or had been homeless, incarcerated or runaways.
Better prevention and education for sexually active adolescents and faster referral of HIV-positive teens are needed, the study concluded.
Adolescents make up a quarter of the country's 40,000 new HIV cases each year, the CDC said.
©365Gay.com 2005
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