More Parents Growing Fearful of HPV Vaccine for Teens, Study Finds
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Joe Raedle/Getty Image(NEW YORK) — More and more doctors are recommending that teen girls receive the vaccination for human papilloma virus, or HPV. But a study, published in the April issue of Pediatrics, shows parents are still fearful, and many don’t intend to vaccinate their adolescent daughters.
According to MedPage Today, study authors reported in an analysis of the National Immunization Survey of Teens that more than 40 percent of parents responded in 2010 that they did not intend to vaccinate their teen daughters with the HPV vaccine.
Reporting that parent responses were not particularly similar for two other vaccines aimed at adolescents, the study authors concluded that there may be a “need for interventions beyond clinician recommendation.”
According to the study findings, when parents were asked why they did not intend to vaccinate their children for HPV, the parents most frequently responded with concerns about safety. Parents who reported safety concerns or worries about side effects rose from 4.5 percent in 2008 to 7.7 percent in 2009 to 16.4 percent in 2010.
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