Why are adolescents particularly vulnerable to STDs and HIV?
For biological, behavioral, and cultural reasons, young people are at especially high risk of contracting STDs, including HIV: • Sizable numbers of adolescents are sexually active. In some countries, sexual activity begins in early adolescence, either within or outside of marriage. Young age at first intercourse is a strong risk factor for STDs.11, 15 • Their immature reproductive and immune systems make adolescents more vulnerable to infection by various STD agents.6, 12 • Adolescents, especially young girls, are less able to refuse sex and/or less able to insist on adequate protection. Sometimes sexual activity involves abuse or coercion which, in turn, is linked to young age at first intercourse and to more than one sexual partnerboth STD risk factors.11 • Conditions such as poverty, homelessness, political strife, and dislocation, which are increasingly common among young people in developing countries, are associated with sexual abuse or with sexual intercourse exchanged for money
