HPV Vaccine Gaining Acceptance
CDC Study Finds 25% of Teen Girls Got at Least One Dose of the Cancer Fighter
By JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN
OCTOBER 10, 2008
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 25% of teenage girls received at least one dose of Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine in 2007, providing the first national estimate of use.
The data, released Thursday, were included in a survey designed to track vaccination rates among 13-to-17 year olds.
Since 2005, three new vaccines have been added to the list of recommended vaccines for adolescents along with an additional dose of varicella, which is designed to protect against chicken pox.
Gardasil was approved in June 2006 and is designed to protect against four strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, two of which account for about 70% of cervical-cancer cases. It is recommended that girls ages 11 to 12 receive the vaccine before they are sexually active.
The results showed 25.1% of the teen girls in the survey had received at least one dose of Gardasil, which is administered in a three-dose series.
"For a new vaccine, 25% coverage is really very good," said Dr. Lance Rodewald, the head of CDC's immunization services division.
The survey also showed big increases in usage rates for vaccines designed to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, which causes whooping cough. Those vaccines, known as Tdap vaccines and sold under the brand name Boostrix by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Adacel by a unit of Sanofi Aventis SA, were added to adolescent vaccine recommendations in 2005 after health officials noticed an uptick in whooping cough cases among teenagers.
Although whooping cough is rarely fatal for teenagers, it can be spread to infants who are too young to receive a similar childhood vaccine and older people in whom the illness can be fatal. Whooping cough lasts for several weeks. It involves severe coughing fits and a "whoop" caused when people attempt to inhale.
The survey also showed an increase in teenagers receiving a vaccine to protect against meningitis, an infection that can be fatal, to 32.4% in 2007 from 11.7% in 2006.
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