.....The latest Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows an increase in syphilis and gonorrhea, and a new record for reported cases of chlamydia -- more than 1 million in the U.S. in 2006......

Ed Thomas, OneNewsNow.com, November 29, 2007

According to a woman's health professional, most of the reported increases cover 15- to 24-year-olds -- an age group that tends be more sexually promiscuous. The current CDC recommendation for sexually active females in that age group is a once-yearly screening for STDs. But obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Jeffery Barrows says he checks more often than recommended.

"I've had girls come in at 18 [years-of-age] and one of my routine questions ... is to ask how many partners they've had ... and I've had girls come in and tell me at 18 [years-of-age] and 19 [years-of-age] they've had ten to fifteen partners already," laments Dr. Barrow.

He says the marked increase in promiscuity correlates with the increase in STD infections. Barrows, who also consults for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, believes these young adults are looking for purpose and direction in the wrong areas. "They're looking for meaning and love, and for a meaningful relationship, [but] you're not going to find it with these quick, fly-by-night sexual liaisons," he says.

Dr. Barrow says it is unfortunate that when those young women do not find fulfillment through sexual encounters, their mental health begins to suffer -- beyond the physical and sexual consequences.