4 things to know about getting teens tested as STI rates rise in Delaware

Meredith Newman
The News Journal
Condoms.

As the rates of sexually transmitted infections, some difficult to fight, continue to rise among Delaware teenagers, health officials say parents and teenagers should consider annual testing. 

STIs are rising most dramatically among Delaware teenagers aged 14 to 17. Young adults in the First State tend to be more sexually active than other teenagers in the country, state health officials say. 

More:Delaware to outsource newborn screenings while ramping up STD testing

Young adults 15 to 24 make up about 25 percent of the sexually active population but account for about half of the 20 million new sexually transmitted illnesses that occur in the U.S. every year, according for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Here are the four things experts say parents and teens need to know about STI testing: 

Be real with teens

While the birds and the bees conversation is dreaded by everyone, experts say parents should be honest with their kids when they talk about sex.

And use the right terminology. 

"A penis is a penis, it's not a whatever the other 80 names you can call it," said Ruth Lytle-Barnaby, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Delaware. "If kids have questions, it's really good to answer at the level that they're asking at. If they're a 5-year-old, you don't have to go into the whole thing of intercourse."

Dr. Robyn Miller, a Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children pediatrician, said parents should present teenagers with all of the facts about sex — and not make any assumptions or accusations. 

If a Delaware teen undergoes a test for sexually transmitted diseases, doctors are not required to tell their parents. 

All 50 states allow minors to consent to their own STD services, according to the CDC. 

In Delaware, minors can consent to contraceptive and STI services, prenatal care, adoption and medical care for their child. Parents will be notified if their daughter, 16 or younger, has an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. 

"People would rather suffer in silence than tell their parents about them having sex, so we make it confidential," said Nemour's Miller, who specializes in adolescent medicine. 

Doctors will typically ask their adolescent patients who they want to know about the STI test and its results. If it's not a parent, it's usually another relative or a friend, she said.

It can be hard to protect STI confidentiality for teens who are a part of private health insurance plans.

While Delaware is one of the few states that requires treatment of STIs to remain confidential, state law does not address who is sent the bill during a claims submission or payment process, a Guttmacher Institute study said.

There's more than one option for testing sites 

Teens don't just have to go to their pediatrician to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

The three Planned Parenthood locations in Delaware will test anyone over the age of 12,  Lytle-Barnaby said. If a child is under 12, a parent would need to be present at the appointment to give consent. 

Men make up about 12 percent of Planned Parenthood's patient population and they typically come in for only STI testing, she said. 

The testing is free for teenagers under 18. For people 18 and older, there could be a fee depending on the person's income level. But the organization will never turn anyone away, she said. 

People can now make appointments through plannedparenthood.org

Planned Parenthood's nurses and doctors will automatically screen for STIs during an appointment since the prevalence rate is so high in Delaware, Lytle-Barnaby said. A person can ask for those tests to not be conducted.

More:Website helps Delaware women get free birth control, rides to health clinics

Delaware's School Based Health Centers screen for STIs among high schoolers. There are currently wellness centers at 29 public high schools. These are separate from the nurse's office and are staffed by nurses from nearby hospitals. 

Many of the centers, but not all, are set up to allow a nurse who thinks a student is showing symptoms of an STI to swab the student's genital areas. Those samples are sent to the state lab.

In order for the wellness center nurses to perform any of the wide-ranging services, parents must sign a consent form at the start of the school year. 

A student exhibiting symptoms will typically go to the nurse's office and the nurse will then refer the student to the wellness center. 

Schedule STI tests at least once a year 

Experts recommend young adults who are having protected sex be tested for STIs at least once a year. 

While it might be unrealistic for a person to be tested every time he or she has unprotected sex, people should come in every three months for testing in order to catch it early, Lytle-Barnaby said. 

A fun read:Kim Kardashian among stars 'working' at Delaware's public health lab

People often have the misconception that if they don't have any symptoms of an STI then they don't have one, Miller said. 

It's common for women to not show symptoms, she said. They might have some stomach pain or vaginal discharge, but most women learn they have an STI when their test results come back positive. 

And besides herpes, it's hard for both men and women to identify STI symptoms and what the specific infection might be, Miller said.

Depending on the severity of the infection, some women can suffer from pelvic inflammatory disease, Miller said. Untreated STIs can also lead to possible infertility.

Miller said the biggest misunderstanding about STIs is a person thinking they don't need to be tested because their partner already has. 

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @merenewman.