Giuliani M, Suligoi B
Centro Operativo AIDS, Reparto AIDS e MST, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italia.
Minerva Ginecol. 2000 Dec;52(12 Suppl 1):14-8.
To assess the distribution of specific sexually transmitted diseases (STD), including HIV-1 infection, among Italian adolescents with an acute STD and to evaluate these individuals behavioural characteristics.
The database of Italy's STD Surveillance System was used as the source of data. Data on all STD cases reported among individuals under 20 years of age were analysed.
From September 1990 to December 1997, 57,046 cases of STDs were reported to the surveillance system; 1,757 (3.1%) of these were reported among adolescents, of whom 896 (51.0%) were males. The most commonly reported diseases among males were genital warts (30.7%) and non-gonococcal urethritis (18.5%); among females, the most commonly reported diseases were non-gonococcal vaginitis (39.1%) and genital warts (30.0%). Of the 555 males tested for HIV-1 antibodies, 28 (5.0%) were seropositive; of the 510 females tested, 17 (3.3%) were seropositive. The highest HIV-1 seroprevalence rates were found among intravenous drug users (IDU) (33.3% among male IDUs and 23.8% among female IDUs) and among homosexual males (17.6%).
In Italy, the impact of STDs among adolescents is not negligible, though the distribution of STDs among this population group differs from the distribution among adults. Moreover, the prevalence of HIV-1 among adolescents with STDs is similar to that among adults with STDs. This study's data suggest the need to further develop STD/HIV prevention programmes that specifically target youths.
