As the world celebrates Valentine's Day, health experts have recently expressed their growing concern in terms of the rise in teen STD rates in South Carolina. Data released by the authorities from South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy showed the state's teen birth rate fell from 13th in the nation in 2014 to 16th in 2015. At the same time, it was found that rates of STDs and HIV/AIDS remained high.

The Rise In Teen STD Cases

According to reports revealed by Go Upstate, South Carolina has allegedly ranked in the top 10 nationally for chlamydia, gonorrhea and diagnosed rates of HIV/AIDS, the data showed. Health officials have also highly emphasized that they are basically concerned with the jump in the rate of HIV/AIDS among teenagers. From 2014 to 2015, the data has revealed that the rate has increased by 10.9 percent in 15- to 19-year-olds, for every 100,000 residents.

Furthermore, as per AIDS Vu, in 2013, there were already 323 individuals who lost their lives due to these diseases and experts have also revealed that it may still go up. It was found that 71 percent of people living with diagnosed HIV in 2013 were black, 4 percent were Hispanic/Latino, and the other 23 percent said to be white. Meanwhile, in 2014, the number of diagnosed patients of having HIV has also risen to 841.

Why Are Health Experts Alarmed?

In one of his statements, executive director of Piedmont Care, Tracey Jackson, has explained that in the first place, anytime they see an uptick in HIV infections or STD infections, they should be alarmed regardless of the figure it's showing. Additionally, the other thing is, for young people, they've grown up in a culture knowing what HIV and AIDS is. So, Jackson and campaign officials are working with groups to get parents more involved. Ultimately, Jackson said that teens listen to their parents, even if parents don't think they do.