Children Vaccinated for Hpv Have Increased but Still Short of National Goal: Study

The numbers of children vaccinated for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) have increased in the United States but still fall short of meeting the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80% vaccination coverage, according to a study in the October 2020 Pediatrics. The study, “Trends in human papillomavirus vaccination in commercially insured children in the United States” (published online Sept. 14), found substantial variability in coverage across states correlated with state-level vaccination policies. Researchers analyzed a database of 7,837,480 children with commercial insurance coverage between January 2003 and December 2017. The proportion of 15-year-old girls and boys with at least one-dose HPV vaccination increased from 38% and 5% in 2011 to 57% and 51% in 2017; the proportion with at least two-doses vaccination went from 30% and 2% in 2011 to 46% and 39% in 2017, respectively. By 2017, two-dose HPV vaccination coverage varied from 80% in Washington, DC, among girls to 15% in Mississippi among boys and was positively correlated with legislation for HPV vaccine education and pediatrician availability. HPV vaccines have been available for use in the US since 2006 for girls and 2009 for boys to prevent certain types of cancers and genital warts.  The authors conclude that despite the increasing trends in uptake, the HPV vaccine coverage among commercially insured children in the United States remains behind national target levels, with substantial disparities by state.