It appears only about one in three young women have received the
human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to help prevent cervical
cancer, according to a new report from researchers at Washington
University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center. The
findings are published in the May issue of the American Journal
of Preventive Medicine. The HPV vaccine prevents four strains of
the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, two of which are
found in about 70 percent of all women with cervical cancer.
Both the American Cancer Society and the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices recommend that women and girls receive
the vaccine, but the new data show that only 34 percent of girls
ages 13 to 17 were vaccinated in the six states
surveyed—Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and
West Virginia. First author Sandi Pruitt, PhD, and senior
investigator Mario Schootman, PhD, analyzed data on 1,709 girls
from a national telephone survey called the Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance System (BRFS