Nearly 5 Percent Of Young American Women Have Chlamydia

Statistics from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that roughly 1.8 million young Americans between the ages of 14 and 39 have the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia. Officials added that many of them had no idea that had it or could be at increased risk for the infection.

"Chlamydia is common, and it's especially common in young women. Most young women who are infected don't know they have it," said study author Elizabeth Torrone, an epidemiologist with the CDC's division of STD prevention according to MSN Healthy Living, in a news release. "This report really underscores the need for young women to be screened for chlamydia annually."

For their findings, researchers looked at data from 2007 to 2012 via the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found that chlamydia rates were particularly high in young women, with about 5 percent of young girls between the ages of 14 and 24 infected with the health disease in 2012.

If left untreated, the infection can lead to infertility and significant pregnancy complications. The infection rates were also more common in some races, with American black women at the same ages infected at about 14 percent and Mexican and white American women infected at 5 and 2 percent, respectively.

Non-federal health experts with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force remind sexually active people under the age of 25 that they need to be annually tested for STIs. Like many similar infections, chlamydia can be detected through a urine tested and treated with antibiotics, if detected early on.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the report "Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection Among Persons Aged 14-39 Years - United States, 2007-2012," was published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.