Too Few Boys Get HPV Vaccine, CDC Study Finds
Too Few Boys Get HPV Vaccine, CDC Study Finds
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 26, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Most boys in the United States aren't receiving the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine alongside their other scheduled inoculations, largely because doctors fail to recommend it or adequately explain its benefits to parents, a new U.S. government study says.
Experts warned that without vaccination, these boys may face infection with the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, a leading cause of multiple cancers.
Parents most often don't get the HPV vaccine for their boys because their health care provider didn't recommend it, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That reason was given by 24 percent of parents whose 13- to 17-year-old sons had not received the shots, when asked as part of the CDC's annual survey on teen vaccinations. The report was published online Oct. 26 in the journal Pediatrics.
Parents also commonly cite a lack of understanding about the vaccine, said report co-author Shannon Stokley, associate director of science at the CDC's immunization services division.
About 19 percent of parents felt the vaccine was not needed, 16 percent said they didn't know enough about it, and 7 percent had safety concerns, the report says.
"We need to work with health care providers so they are making strong recommendations and communicating with their patients about the need for this vaccine," Stokley said.
All the parents' reported excuses point to their doctor as the weak link in the chain, said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer for the American Cancer Society.
Each year in the United States, an estimated 26,000 new cancers are attributable to HPV, including about 9,000 in men, researchers said in background material.
HPV causes nearly all cervical and anal cancers. The virus also causes about 70 percent of throat cancers, three-quarters of vaginal cancers and 63 percent of cancers of the penis, according the CDC.
Currently, about 79 million people are infected with HPV, and 14 million people will be infected each year.
The first HPV vaccine, licensed in 2006, initially was recommended only for girls, to protect them against cervical cancer. In 2011 the CDC began recommending HPV vaccination for boys as well.
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 26, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Most boys in the United States aren't receiving the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine alongside their other scheduled inoculations, largely because doctors fail to recommend it or adequately explain its benefits to parents, a new U.S. government study says.
Experts warned that without vaccination, these boys may face infection with the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, a leading cause of multiple cancers.
Parents most often don't get the HPV vaccine for their boys because their health care provider didn't recommend it, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That reason was given by 24 percent of parents whose 13- to 17-year-old sons had not received the shots, when asked as part of the CDC's annual survey on teen vaccinations. The report was published online Oct. 26 in the journal Pediatrics.
Parents also commonly cite a lack of understanding about the vaccine, said report co-author Shannon Stokley, associate director of science at the CDC's immunization services division.
About 19 percent of parents felt the vaccine was not needed, 16 percent said they didn't know enough about it, and 7 percent had safety concerns, the report says.
"We need to work with health care providers so they are making strong recommendations and communicating with their patients about the need for this vaccine," Stokley said.
All the parents' reported excuses point to their doctor as the weak link in the chain, said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer for the American Cancer Society.
Each year in the United States, an estimated 26,000 new cancers are attributable to HPV, including about 9,000 in men, researchers said in background material.
HPV causes nearly all cervical and anal cancers. The virus also causes about 70 percent of throat cancers, three-quarters of vaginal cancers and 63 percent of cancers of the penis, according the CDC.
Currently, about 79 million people are infected with HPV, and 14 million people will be infected each year.
The first HPV vaccine, licensed in 2006, initially was recommended only for girls, to protect them against cervical cancer. In 2011 the CDC began recommending HPV vaccination for boys as well.
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