Doctors Need to Stress the Importance of HPV Vaccination Among Preteens

Stigma on Human Papillomavirus vaccination (HPV) still exists as many doctors don't recommend it for teenagers in the age group of 11-12 years, revealed a new study.

A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention among a pool of 582 pediatricians and family physicians to 11-12-year-old girls showed that more than one-third "don't strongly recommend" the vaccine to their preteen patients.

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‘Pediatricians are advised to strongly recommend Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for girls and boys in the age group of 11-12 years.’

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection that can cause severe problems like cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, etc. The virus can also be transmitted without sexual intercourse, and, therefore, it is must for teenagers to get vaccinated.

Teenagers are now having sex by the age of 16, but parents are still hesitating to talk about it openly to them. The age of 11-12 years is crucial for parents to explain them about STI and the importance of getting HPV vaccination.

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Doctors also do not strongly recommend girls to get HPV vaccinated. The only way to prevent this infection is by getting a complete round of three vaccinations before having sex for the first time The HPV vaccine is important for boys as well as for girls because boys can also get cancer from the HPV virus.

CDC states that the best way to solve this problem is to be better at addressing "knowledge gaps" among parents who don't want to think about their children having sex, and push more doctors to issue strong recommendations for the HPV vaccine with preteen patients.

Source: Medindia