Many pediatricians and family doctors are not strongly recommending the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine to preteens and their parents, contributing to low vaccination rates, a survey of nearly 600 doctors suggests.
The vaccine protects against the human papillomavirus, which is spread through sex and can cause several kinds of cancer, including cervical cancer. The government wants girls and boys to get it at age 11 or 12 because it works best if kids get it before they become sexually active.
While nearly all doctors surveyed discuss the vaccine with at least some patients that young, more than one-third don’t strongly recommend it for those ages. They w