A commentary on the above study opens by saying:

"This research report, commissioned by 13 state Physician Resource Councils (PRCs) representing thousands of practicing physicians, support conclusions that are in direct contradiction to the prevailing notions of government funded health agencies. The key findings of the report, based on the latest government data, are that:

• Total contraceptive use by adolescent females has actually decreased during the 1990s.
• The out-of-wedlock birthrate among sexually experienced and sexually active female teens has increased dramatically since 1988, despite a significant increase in condom use by this cohort.
• Condom use is not positively correlated with a reduction in out-of-wedlock teen births.
• The decline in overall teen birthrates is primarily attributable to abstinent adolescents.
• An unambiguous abstinence message is more consistent than the safer-sex message with the dynamics responsible for the decline in the overall birthrate among teens.
• There is strong evidence that the abstinence message is effective and that abstinence education programs will play an important role in the future of healthy teens."

The Medical Institute for Sexual Health(MISH) - founded by Dr. Joe McIlhaney - is a great resource for STD information and abstinence materials. Two of the STDs Dr. McIlhaney uses to show the increase in STD rates are Herpes and HPV (Human Papillomavirus.) Dr. McIlhaney allows that "specific data is difficult to find for the entire unmarried, sexually active population of 1960" but by comparing estimates of visits to private MDs for Herpes and HPV (as reported by the National Disease and Therapeutic Index), we can get a feel for the increasing magnitude of these two diseases:
 

^{The above figures would indicate that 38 percent more Americans are now infected with herpes type II than were infected one and one-half decades ago. Another major research report on Herpes in the United States, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in October, 1997, showed that since the late 70s, the prevalence of HSV-2 (herpes simplex virus-2) has increased by 30 percent and is "now detectable in roughly one of five persons 12 years of age or older nationwide." Most people are not aware of the following consequences of herpes:}

1. When women who had a history of herpes in the past were tested, 22.9 per cent were found to have herpes virus present, even when no sores were currently present (Kowll, wr L., 1992, Annals of Internal Medicine, 116 (6), 433-437.)
2. Women with asymptomatic or unrecognized HSV-II (herpes II) infection give birth to most of the infants who develop neonatal herpes, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates despite antiviral therapy (Brown, Z.A., et. Al, New England Journal of Medicine, 324(18), 1247-52.) [A major reason for the increase in caesarean section during recent years]

Even if the HPV warts are not visible, the infection can be passed from one person to another. Some warts may need to be treated repeatedly with laser or surgery and followed up with freezing, acid or podophyllin to treat the satellite warts. Repeated laser therapy can damage the cervix and lead to infertility, premature delivery, or difficult delivery. For these reasons, every women who has ever had intercourse should have a yearly Pap smear (Sexual Health Today, MISH, p. 61-63)

ODH (the Ohio Department of Health) does not currently keep statistics on the Herpes or HPV epidemics in Ohio. If you think greater effort should be put forth in educating the public and keeping statistics on these devastating diseases, please write to: Dr. Forrest Smith, Infectious Disease, Ohio Department of Health, 246 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43266-0118 with your concerns.