Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Adolescents

Although adolescents currently account for less than 1% of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases in the United States, recent data indicate that the rate of adolescent AIDS cases has increased markedly,¹especially among African-American adolescents.²Moreover, given the long latency period between infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and clinical symptoms, reliance on AIDS case surveillance data severely underestimates the serious health threat to adolescents posed by the AIDS epidemic. More relevant indices, such as HIV seroprevalence in selected adolescent populations²and the high prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and sexual risk behaviors,³,⁴emphasize the need for the urgent development and implementation of programs that effectively reduce HIV-related risk behaviors, particularly unprotected sexual intercourse. See also p 725. Although sexual abstinence is the most effective method to prevent transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, many adolescents are sexually active, with the age of