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Research Paper
Parental Response to the Introduction of a Vaccine Against Human Papilloma Virus
Karen Noakes, Joanne Yarwood and David Salisbury
volume 2 | issue 6
november/december 2006Pages: 243 - 248
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The introduction of a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that is the causal factor of at least 95% of invasive cervical cancer, could significantly reduce the number of cases of cervical cancer occurring in the UK each year. To ensure that individuals are protected before onset of sexual activity, it is likely that the vaccine will be offered to children around 10 years of age. It is important that parents’ attitudes to HPV vaccination are taken into account, particularly as the subject relates to sexual health issues. In order to gauge parents’ initial responses to the addition of HPV vaccine to the immunisation programme and identify the issues needing further research, in-depth interviews were held with parents of girls and boys aged 8-10 years. Our results show that most parents have not heard of HPV and were not aware of the role of HPV in cervical cancer. There were concerns about offering a vaccine that protects against a sexually transmitted infection to children and that the vaccine should be offered at an older age in conjunction with a sex education programme. In order to avoid rejection of this vaccine, work needs to take place now to raise awareness of HPV as a cause of cervical cancer prior to any introduction of the vaccination programme.
Authors
Karen Noakes
Department of Health; London UK
Joanne Yarwood
Department of Health; London UK
David Salisbury
Department of Health; London UK
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.