An opportunity for improvement: adolescent administration of the human papillomavirus vaccine

Despite having access to a safe, effective, licensed vaccine against Human Papillomavirus, many adolescents fail to complete the three-dose series falling far short of our Healthy People 2020 goal of 80 percent. There are a number of theories about why patients and health care professionals may choose to skip this vaccine series: Infrequent adolescent visits compared with the infant/toddler preventive care schedule, parental fear over appearing permissive to sexual activity, cost of the vaccine series, and being uninformed about the vaccination. Given the high prevalence of infection, low rate of adverse events associated with vaccination, and significant morbidity and mortality associated with disease, physicians should be strongly recommending this vaccine series. This article reviews the typical barriers and provides suggestions for national and Delaware-specific resources for health care professionals and patients.