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 The HPV vaccine, sold as Gardasil by Merck & Co and Cervarix by
GlaxoSmithKline, protects against the most common sexually
transmitted infection. Each year, 27,000 people nationwide are
diagnosed with a cancer caused by the virus, including cancers of
the cervix, penis, anus and throat.
The CDC said the percentage of girls between 13 and 17 years old who
received at least one dose of the vaccine increased by 3.3
percentage points to 60 percent. For boys, the rate increased 8.1
percentage points to 41.7 percent.
In that same age group, 39.7 percent of girls received at least
three doses of the vaccine, up 2.9 percentage points, compared with
21.6 percent of boys, a rise of 8.2 percentage points.
By comparison, 87.6 percent of teens received the Tdap vaccine
against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for
Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said U.S. healthcare
providers are still not recommending HPV vaccines as strongly as
they promote other immunizations.
"We don't believe that cost is the principle barrier," she said.
Gardasil was approved by U.S. health regulators in 2006, and became
the center of a debate over how early doctors and parents should
discuss the risk of sexually-transmitted disease with teens and
younger children.
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"The vaccine got off on the wrong foot with the public, but with
physicians too because a fair number thought they would have to talk
about sexual contact and they were reluctant to," said Dr. Carol
Baker, executive director of the Center for Vaccine Awareness and
Research at Texas Children's Hospital.
Teenagers from lower income families had slightly higher vaccination
rates, a trend attributed to public health programs such as Vaccines
for Children that cover costs for families in need. Under the 2010
Affordable Care Act, private insurers are required to cover
vaccines.
The 2014 National Immunization Survey of teens collected data
regarding 20,827 adolescents.
(THis story corrects last paragraph to make clear data was gathered
on teenagers in the survey and that adolescents were not polled)
(Reporting by Kylie Gumpert; editing by Michele Gershberg and Grant
McCool)
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