Many Hoosier youth not getting HPV vaccinations, CDC says

“There’s something that’s driving that, but I don’t know what,” said Dr. Gregory Zimet, a professor of pediatrics and clinical psychology at Indiana University’s School of Medicine, and co-director of Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis’ Center for HPV Research. “I think those of us who are interested in vaccination and in prevention of disease would really like to see things moving more quickly.”

Vaccinations rates for boys and girls ages 13 to 17 for HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause genital warts and several forms of cancer, are slowly increasing, according to a report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week. Nationwide, four out of 10 girls are unvaccinated, or 60 percent of teens ages 13 to 17. Indiana girls are slightly better off, with 61.4 percent of girls having received the first dose of the HPV vaccine, 54.3 percent having received the second dose and 44.4 percent receiving the full vaccination, according to 2014 data from the CDC.

Nationally, six out of every 10 boys is unvaccinated, with Indiana in the top 10 least vaccinated states. Of Hoosier boys, 23.2 percent have received the first dose of the vaccine, 17 percent have received two doses, and only 12.8 percent have received the full vaccine.

Despite the low vaccination rate for Hoosier boys, Zimet noted that the nation’s overall HPV vaccination rates for girls and boys are increasing, 3 percentage points for girls and 8 percentage points for boys.