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U.S. teen girls refuse human papillomavirus vaccination
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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American epidemiologists have found that less than half of teenage girls have received the recommended vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, AP reports.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a telephone survey of parents of more than 19,000 girls aged 13 to 17. It found that only 49% had received at least one of the recommended three doses of the HPV vaccine. Less than a third of them had completed the full course.
The highest HPV vaccination coverage—about 70%—was in Washington and Rhode Island, and the lowest—about 29%—in Idaho.
At the same time, the level of coverage of adolescents with other recommended vaccinations – against meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough – is significantly higher and reaches two-thirds of representatives of this age group.
According to experts, this situation may be related to the high price of the HPV vaccine and the inconvenience of its administration (you need to visit a doctor three times within six months), but the main reason is a misunderstanding of the essence of the vaccination, they believe.
Since HPV is sexually transmitted, it is necessary to get vaccinated against it before the onset of sexual activity. As a rule, vaccination is carried out at the age of 11 to 12 years. However, many parents believe that it is too early to vaccinate their daughter at this age, since she has not yet had sexual relations. At the same time, many of them are groundlessly afraid that vaccination is accompanied by a discussion of sexual activity, for which the child may not be ready.
With that in mind, experts like Jeff Levi, executive director of the research group Trust for America's Health, are calling on the government to launch an aggressive, large-scale education campaign to combat the stigma that hinders cancer prevention.
"If we don't do a much better job, we're leaving the next generation vulnerable to cervical cancer," CDC spokeswoman Melinda Wharton said.
According to statistics, about 12 thousand American women get cervical cancer every year, a third of them die from this disease.
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