Teen Vaccination Rates Continue to Climb, Though Raising Awareness Remains Key

Human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine uptake among teenage girls also increased last year compared with 2008 figures, although coverage with at least one vaccine dose remained less than 50 percent. Specifically, coverage with one or more doses increased 7 percent to 44.3 percent, and only 26.7 percent of teenage girls in the survey had completed the three-dose series, up from 17.9 percent a year ago.

Campos-Outcalt, who also is associate head of the department of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, said the relatively high cost of the HPV vaccine might deter some parents, while others may have concerns about vaccine safety.

"People are getting bad information from some antivaccine websites," he said. "It's a very safe vaccine, and it's an effective vaccine."

From the time Merck & Co. Inc.'s HPV vaccine -- which is marketed as Gardasil -- was approved by the FDA in 2006 through May 31 of this year, nearly 30 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the United States. A total of 16,140 adverse events were reported to the CDC during that time, with more than 90 percent of those reports deemed nonserious by CDC officials.

According to the 2009 teen survey, overall vaccination rates varied widely among the states. For example, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island achieved coverage of 60 percent or more with the three vaccines routinely recommended for teens. Conversely, Oklahoma and South Carolina saw rates below 40 percent for all three vaccines, and Mississippi was below 25 percent for all three.

The CDC survey also included information about coverage rates for vaccines administered during childhood or as catch-up vaccines in adolescents:

Campos-Outcalt said adolescent vaccinations need to become as high a priority for parents as childhood vaccinations are.

"It has to develop into a mindset," he said. "Teens should come in to see if they are developing correctly, get their shots and any tests that might be indicated. Then it becomes routine for them -- just as it is for infants and children."