Study Finds That Few Girls Receive All 3 HPV Shots on Time, or at All
WebMd Health News
By Jennifer Warner
Dec. 13, 2010 – Only about one in seven girls who start the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series finish the three-shot sequence on time, according to a new study.
The HPV vaccine protects females against the strains of HPV that cause the majority of cervical cancers. The CDC recommends the three-shot HPV vaccine series for all young women aged 11 to 26.
But the study found that only 14% of girls aged 9 to 26 who started the HPV vaccine series completed it within seven months, and 28% received all three HPV shots within a year. The HPV vaccine is given in three doses, with two months between the first and second doses and six months between the first and third dose.
Researchers say those completion rates are much lower than previously reported from the CDC and suggest that many young women are unprotected or underprotected from the most dangerous strains of the sexually transmitted virus.
“Low vaccine completion rates and/or prolonged intervals between doses may be a problem,” researcher Lea E. Widdice, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, and colleagues write in Pediatrics. “The duration of protection and efficacy offered by incomplete immunization or immunization at intervals different from that of the clinical trials are currently unknown.”
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