Background:
Providing today's youth with comprehensive sex education, including risk reduction and prevention messages for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), is an area of national debate – the outcome of which will have long-lasting ramifications. Genital herpes is one of the most common STIs in the US with an estimated 20% of people age 12 and older having the infection. The National Herpes Hotline (NHH), a program of the American Social Health Association (ASHA), provides information, support, materials and referrals to individuals across the US and abroad. The experience of NHH in addressing concerns from teenagers and young adults may be instructive to professionals, educators, parents and policy makers.

Objective:
To profile NHH callers between the ages of 13 and 24 and identify topics of concern from this age group.

Method:
NHH surveyed 10,368 callers between January 2000 and January 2005. Data were quantitatively analyzed.

Result:
Nineteen percent (n = 1,970) of callers were between the ages of 13 and 24. Of these, 47% were white, 25% were African-American and 17% were Hispanic. Sixty-six percent were female. Twenty percent found the service through a telephone book, 20% from the Internet and 12% from a teacher, friend or relative. Most common topics discussed included: transmission (60%), symptoms (59%) and testing (40%). Concerns most often expressed included: contracting herpes (34%), being newly diagnosed (20%) and infecting a partner (13%).

Conclusion:
NHH call activity indicates that youth have numerous questions and concerns on multiple issues surrounding genital herpes including transmission and prevention. Strategies for increasing youth's access to accurate herpes information is warranted and programs offering such information should be implemented.

Implications:
Any program, facility or health care professional assisting this population should consider the importance of offering appropriate information and referrals related to herpes and other sexually transmitted infections.