No change in HPV vaccine coverage for teen girls in 2012

(HealthDay)—In 2012 there was little increase in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among teenage girls, according to a report published in the July 26 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Shannon Stokley, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the 2007 to 2012 National Immunization Survey-Teen and national post-licensure vaccine safety monitoring to summarize the national HPV vaccination coverage levels among adolescent girls aged 13 to 17 years.

According to the report, from 2007 to 2011, there was an increase in vaccination coverage with one or more dose of any HPV vaccine, from 25.1 to 53.0 percent; however, there was little change from 2011 to 2012 (53.8 percent in 2012). Vaccine coverage for one or more doses could have reached 92.6 percent if the vaccine had been given during a health care visit where another vaccine was administered. Based on evidence from safety monitoring data, HPV4 appears to be safe.

"Despite the availability of safe and effective HPV vaccines, approximately one-quarter of surveyed parents did not intend to vaccinate their daughters in the next 12 months. Missed vaccination opportunities remain high," write the authors of an editorial note. "Improving practice patterns and clinical skills so that health care providers are well equipped to address questions from parents and are committed to using every opportunity to strongly recommend HPV vaccination is necessary to achieve potential reductions in HPV-attributable cancers."

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