HIV infections make headlines. When public health officials said as many as 50 Normandy High School students might have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS, they attracted national attention.
It’s too early to know whether there will be an HIV outbreak tied to that particular school. But we already know that the risk of teenagers contracting a sexually transmitted disease is high throughout the St. Louis region. Students everywhere — not just in Normandy or St. Louis — should know the dangers of unprotected sex.
That topic is difficult for most parents to broach with their kids, but it is absolutely crucial that they do. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one of every four American girls between the ages of 14 and 19 has an STD. That’s a staggering number. Teenagers in this country are no more likely to have sex than their peers overseas, but they are much more likely to contract an STD.
Most teenagers aren’t psychologically prepared for sex. The biology of teenage girls makes them more vulnerable to infection than women in their 20s and 30s. It’s important that young women get that message. And although information can be reinforced by accurate sexual education in school, the best source for young people is their parents.

Normandy High parents and educators understandably are relieved that, six weeks after most of the school’s 1,300 students were tested on campus, there’s no evidence of an epidemic. But the most widely used HIV tests look for antibodies to the virus, and those can take six months or more to develop. Another round of testing at the school is planned for January, with more testing likely to follow in the spring.
The testing began after a person infected with HIV led public health investigators to conclude that as many as 50 students might have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS. So-called contact investigations are a routine part of tracking sexually transmitted diseases and limiting their spread.
Because of confidentiality requirements, public health officials probably never will reveal if any HIV cases eventually are linked to the school. Still, they deserve credit for quickly responding to the information, and for sharing it with students and parents to ensure that young people who might have been exposed were tested. The CDC recommends that all sexually active young people be tested for HIV and other STDs.
HIV infection remains a very serious matter. But early diagnosis and treatment can allow people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives.

St. Louis has some of the nation’s highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia, common STDs in teenagers and young adults. Both are caused by bacteria, and they can be treated successfully with antibiotics. But many people, especially those infected with chlamydia, have no symptoms and don’t seek treatment. Left untreated, chlamydia can lead to infertility.
The rate of chlamydia in St. Louis is higher than it is in Los Angeles County. The rate in St. Louis County, while lower than in the city, is more than twice the rate in Miami-Dade County.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are spread the same way as HIV — through unprotected sex. Viruses and bacteria don’t discriminate by geography or age. They don’t care where you’re from or what grade you’re in.
That’s a crucial lesson for all young people, and their parents, to understand.