Gemeinschaftsmedizin und Gesundheitserziehung

Abstrakt

Three Doses to Finish: A Review on Completion of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination among Adolescent Females Aged 12-17 years

Abeer Arain*

Human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancers have become a major public health concern. About 90% of HPVrelated cancers are caused by HPV 16 and 18 strains. The virus can cause various cancers, such as oropharyngeal, anal, penile, but most of the HPV related cancers are dominated by cervical cancer. About 70% of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV infection. HPV vaccination in the U.S still remains an important public health challenge with the rate of vaccine initiation of just 50%. Therefore increasing the pattern of HPV vaccine uptake is an important public health issue to increase the overall vaccination coverage. Improving parental awareness among adolescents and their mothers about HPV vaccine and its triple course regimen can significantly reduce later risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer among adolescent females. This article expands the understanding of HPV vaccine’s initiation and completion among adolescent females. An intervention called three doses to finish is also proposed in the article, to increase the awareness of HPV vaccine, and completion rates of the vaccination by an educational seminar and text message reminders.