Human papillomavirus vaccine initiation and up-to-date vaccine coverage for adolescents after the implementation of school-entry policy in Puerto Rico.

ABSTRACT: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been proven effective in the prevention of infection with high-risk HPV types, which can lead to the development of six HPV-related cancers. Puerto Rico (PR) adopted a mandatory HPV vaccination school-entry policy that took effect in August 2018. While school-entry requirements are generally accepted as an effective approach for increasing vaccination rates, there are few studies that have documented their impact on improving HPV vaccination rates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the HPV school-entry policy in PR on HPV vaccine coverage. We used a pre-post natural experiment. The study population included adolescents registered in the PR Immunization Registry during 2008-2019. We calculated HPV vaccine initiation and up-t

SUBMITTER: Colon-Lopez V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10021633 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature