US falls short of target for vaccinating adolescents against HPV

Only a third of adolescent girls in the United States have received the recommended three doses of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, well below the coverage rate target of 80%, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported.1

The HPV vaccine has been recommended in the US for routine vaccination in adolescent girls at ages 11 or 12 years since 2006 and for adolescent boys since 2011.

Two vaccines are available, a bivalent and quadrivalent vaccine. Both protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause 70% of cervical cancers. The quadrivalent vaccine also protects against HPV types 6 and …