STD rates high among Michigan teen-agers

''It's a serious problem,'' said Mark Wilson, program director for sexually transmitted disease prevention at the Detroit Department of Health. ''You're dealing with attitudes in a lot of these cases. Young people of today have the attitude that they have the world ahead of them and it's not going to happen to me.''

Nearly three-fourths of the state's reported cases of chlamydia - an inflammation that can lead to death or sterility if untreated - and more than half of the cases of gonorrhea involved young adults under age 25, the state Department of Community Health reports.

Chlamydia - a parasite - can lead to infertility and tubal pregnancies. Gonorrhea causes painful, burning urination and a puss-like discharge from the urethra or vagina.

Michigan educators say parents need to accept some responsibility for teaching teens about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, The Detroit News reported in a story yesterday.

Nationally, teens make up about one-quarter of the 12 million reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and herpes, each year. That means one out of four sexually active teens will become infected with some type of disease each year because of risky behavior, the newspaper reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month that it is starting its most intense effort yet to combat sexually transmitted diseases.

Over the next year, the agency will encourage states to work with parents, schools and local television stations to start prevention programs. It will pursue a nationwide effort to eliminate syphilis and expand testing for chlamydia, which has no symptoms in most women.

Health officials attribute the soaring rates among Michigan teen-agers to a number of factors: Ignorance, easy transmission of some sexually transmitted diseases, stealthy symptoms or reluctance to get treatment, the News reported.

In the study of 11 states by Advocates for Youth, a national teen health organization, only Georgia fared worse than Michigan in providing services and teaching young people about topics such as teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The survey studied state policies in 10 areas including health education in schools, school-based health care and programs for youths outside of school.

Michigan fell short in three areas: sex education for runaway, homeless and delinquent youths; support services for young gays and lesbians; and access to confidential health services such as HIV testing, counseling and treatment.

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