'U' Study Finds Need To Increase HPV Vaccinations

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health finds that human papillomavirus vaccinations remain low.

Researcher Nicole Basta said they sampled adolescents from 2009 and 2014, and found only 35 percent of females and 10 percent of males got at least one dose of the vaccine. Three doses are needed.

Basta said they set out to investigate whether or not obese and overweight adolescents in the U.S were less likely to get the HPV vaccine.

"And what we found is that obese and overweight teens are just as likely to get the vaccine." Basta said.

She said what they found is that more work is needed to get more teens to get vaccinated.

"We confirmed that HPV vaccine is no where near reaching the healthy people 2020 of 80 percent coverage in the population." she said

She said one obstacle for many is that you need three doses of the vaccine and many young people only get one or two of the shots, and don't complete the dosage.

"It's one of those cases where you really need the full dosage to get the full protection." Basta said

She said it's been shown to be a very safe and effective vaccine, and the first ever cancer fighting vaccine.