Promoting Prevention: Improving Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination by Dispelling Misconceptions

The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine has been approved since 2006. Still, almost 20 years later, coverage of adolescents aged 13 to 15 years in the United States falls short of the 80% vaccination rate goal enacted by Healthy People 2030. Signi ficant improvements to HPV vaccine uptake are needed to prevent HPV-associated cancers throughout the lifespan. The epidemiology and pathophysiology of HPV, the history of the vaccine, screening/vaccine guidelines, and implications for practice are discussed. Research studies regarding patient and parent misconceptions about the vaccine and ways to dispel these misbeliefs are reviewed. (c) 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.