The graph above demonstrates a startling statistic, the youth are driving (while some are not even old enough to drive) new sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Though they make up one forth of the sexually active population in the US (which means all the folks having sex in the US) they account for half (half!) of all STIs. That is a pretty big disparity. What that means is that the youth are being infected more frequently than their older counterparts and the majority of the infection is in the youth.
This is also a case of like finds like. Youth are generally sexually active with other youth in their age range so the infection stays localized in the youth population.
The graph above looks at new HIV infection rates by age in Louisiana compared to the national average (Louisiana is grey; the US is orange). From this graph we can see the in the age group 20-24 in Louisiana is almost double that of the national average (68 compared to 37).
What does this mean for the New Orleans area?
In our area, almost 1 in 4 new infections is in the youth population (those aged 13-24). These data tell us that we need to focus prevention efforts on youth and educate them about how to practice safer sexual habits, where to get tested, and how to link to care if they test positive.
hivnola 