Over
the 1970s and 1980s, scientists discovered that human papillomavirus (HPV) was
responsible for cervical cancer, anogenital cancer, and oropharyngeal cancers.
Since squamous cervical carcinoma is entirely attributable to HPV infection,
HPV prevention became the goal for development of a vaccine against HPV
infection.
HPV
remains the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US. Approximately
80 million people are infected with HPV. For perspective, roughly 80%-90% of
sexually active people will be infected at some point in their life. The
incidence of HPV is 14 million new infections annually, and 50% of these cases
are in those 15-24 years old.
Despite the prevalence of HPV and associated cancers, and the existence of a safe and effective vaccine, uptake of the vaccine in the US has not been robust. During 2017–2018, 68.1% of adolescents had =1 dose of the HPV vaccine, and the percentage of adolescents up-to-date with the complete HPV vaccine series was 51.1%. In 2017, 51.5% of adult females and 21.2% of adult males (19-26 years old) reported receipt of at least one dose of HPV vaccine. The Johns Hopkins HPV Quality Improvement initiative described in this publication was an attempt to affect change in vaccination rates in the 18-26 year old college population.
