This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Parental concerns about HPV vaccine on rise
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Many parents said they believe that the HPV vaccine is unnecessary, and they are worried about adverse events related to the vaccine, according to study results published online.
Paul M. Darden, MD, of the department of general and community pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., and colleagues looked at data from the 2008-2010 National Immunization Survey of Teens on the HPV vaccine, tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis, and the meningococcal conjugate vaccine.
The researchers said although the number of teens who were caught up on the three vaccines rose during the study period for all vaccines, the proportion of girls who were fully immunized against HPV was much lower than for the other two vaccines.
Parents concerned about HPV vaccine safety rose from 5% in 2008 to 16% in 2010, whereas less than 1% worried about the safety of the Tdap and MCV4 vaccines.
“Although parents report that health care professionals increasingly recommend all vaccines, including HPV, the intent to not vaccinate for HPV increased from 39.8% in 2008 to 43.9% in 2010,” Darden and colleagues wrote.
The researchers said addressing parental concerns related to these vaccines will be key to influencing vaccination rates.
Disclosure: Darden reports being a consultant and serving on an advisory board to Pfizer in the past 3 years.
Perspective
Back to Top
Amy B. Middleman, MD
Darden’s study raises some interesting concerns regarding the reasons that parents are not having their children immunized with the HPV vaccine.
I would posit, however, that the construct of physician recommendation includes addressing many of the myriad of reasons parents have given for not having their children immunized, including education regarding the need for, efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Multiple studies have revealed that the way physicians communicate the recommendation for HPV vaccine is qualitatively different than the way they communicate the recommendation for other vaccines.
While the authors suggest the results of the study indicate that physician recommendation may not be sufficient to increase the uptake of vaccine, another interpretation is that a stronger and more comprehensive recommendation that addresses the true concerns of parents may be the key to success.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts