In the United States, more and more parents refuse to have their children vaccinated against the papillomavirus. In France, one in three girls in the target population is vaccinated.
Many American parents still refuse to comply with the recommendations of doctors who recommend the vaccinations of adolescents against the human papillomavirus (HPV), reveals this March 18 a study published in the journal Pediatrics.
Indeed, even if HPV remains the main cause of cervical cancer, parents justify their refusal by saying that their daughter is too young, or that she has not yet had sex. They are also concerned about the safety of the vaccine and its possible side effects, the study said.
Proof of this growing mistrust, while in 2008, 40% of parents questioned declared that they refused to have their daughter vaccinated, in 2010, the percentage rose to 44%. The American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 12 be vaccinated against HPV, as well as women up to the age of 26 and men. up to 21 years if they have not been vaccinated at a younger age.
“It is in the other direction that the percentage should evolve,” said one of the research managers, Robert Jacobson, pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic, noting, reports the Afp, that studies had always shown that the HPV vaccine was safe and effective.
In France, to protect young girls, the High Public Health Council (HCSP) in January 2013 followed the advice of two learned pediatric societies (GPIP and SFP) by officially recommending HPV vaccination for young girls at 11 years old. It is the evolution of data and the weakness of vaccination coverage that led the HCSP to revise its postions. In the field, specialists are finding that vaccination against cervical cancer and other diseases caused by HPV viruses is declining. In 2010 and 2011, immunization coverage for one dose lost nearly four points in one year among girls, going from 39.4% in 2010 to 35.8 the following year. “This low rate could compromise the obtaining of group immunity”, estimated the High Council.
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