A study by the Centers For Disease Control says 1 in 4 teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease. The Public Health Department and Officials here say they're not surprised by the numbers.

"It's become the norm...rather than the exception, " Nurse Kristy Moore said.

Moore said the reason numbers aren't falling when it comes to STD's in Wichita Falls is lack of education.

Officials promote abstinence, but most teens think as long as they're not having intercourse... they're safe.

"You have little girls that are performing oral sex and saying, 'oh I'm not having sex' so they think they're not going to get an STD just because they're performing oral sex. Sadly enough, they don't know they can contract something in their throat," Moore said.

Moore said the most common STD case they see is gonorrhea. Nationally, the highest contracted infection is the human papillavirus virus or HPV and its most common in girls.

"Only because in boys, it can go undetected. They can continue to pass it on to the girls and not even know they have it, " Moore said.

HPV is a major concern because it can lead to cervical cancer and spreads easily.

"If a little boy has say a wart on his finger, touches the little girl... Little girls can contract it, " Moore said.

But there is a tool available for prevention handed out at the Public Health Department-- and it's one Moore highly recommends to all parents. It's a vaccination called Gardasil.

Girls as young as 9 and all the way up to 18 can get the shot that protects them from the most common strains of HPV.

The Wichita Falls Independent School District also promotes teens waiting until marriage to have sex. Through their sex education classes, they cover the facts; as well as the emotional consequences.