HPV Vaccination Rates Still Low, Despite Increases

Despite an increase in overall vaccination rates among teens in 2016 compared with 2015, rates of HPV vaccination are still lagging behind those of Tdap and MenACWY, according to a recent report from the CDC.

Using data from 20,745 participants in the National Immunization Survey-Teen from 2016, the researchers estimated changes in annual vaccination rates.
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Overall, the researchers observed that coverage with Tdap, 2 or more doses of MenACWY, each dose of HPV vaccine, and 2 or more doses of varicella vaccine all increased from 2015 to 2016. Tdap rates increased from 86.4% to 88%, MenACWY rates increased from 81.3% to 82.2%, and varicella coverage rates increased from 83.6% to 85.6%.

Roughly 60% of teens received at least 1 HPV vaccine, with coverage with at least 1 dose increasing by 4.3 percentage points, and coverage with at least 2 doses increasing by 2.2 percentage points.

After retroactively applying the ACIP’s 2016 updated HPV vaccination recommendations, the researchers found that 43.3% of adolescents were up to date with the HPV vaccine (49.5% in girls vs 37.5% in boys).

“Adolescent vaccination coverage continues to improve overall; however, substantial opportunities exist to further increase HPV-associated cancer prevention.”

“Protection against vaccine-preventable diseases will be increased if clinicians consistently recommend and simultaneously administer Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV vaccines at age 11–12 years.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Walker TY, Elam-Evans LD, Singleton JA, et al. National, regional, state, and selected local area vaccination coverage among adolescents aged 13–17 years — United States, 2016. MMWR. 2017;66(33);874–882.