Increased publicizing of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine’s benefits could drive growth in patients’ usage of the vaccine, researchers said in a letter to the editors of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Dr. Harry Pellman, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, and Brandon Brown, Ph.D., of the division of clinical sciences at the Center for Health Communities at the University of California, Riverside, cited having observed higher rates of HPV vaccinations in their practice, where doctors recommend the vaccine, than were found by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study (42% males, 60% females) as an explanation for their hypothesis. In Dr. Pellman’s and Dr. Brown’s study, which included 101 patients, 90% of male and 67% of female patients (P less than .01) received an HPV vaccination.
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In an anonymous survey of these patients’ parents, the researchers learned that “strength of the provider recommendation” (85%) and “publicity around the importance of vaccinating against HPV disease” (69%) were the most common reasons parents chose to accept the HPV vaccination for their child. The pediatricians also noted that 89% of the parents surveyed who had a family member or friend diagnosed with cervical or female organ cancer agreed to have their child vaccinated.
Dr. Pellman and Dr. Brown also found that “wanting to learn more about the vaccine” (60%) was the reason given by most parents who opted not to have their child vaccinated to prevent HPV. “This also suggests that publicizing the role of HPV vaccination in preventing HPV disease and its consequences might be an important public health strategy,” they said.
To read the letter, go to (Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2016 Jan;35[1]:119-20 doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000000941).