The controversial HPV vaccine has been making only slow progress in the U.S. Despite the fact that half of all girls are exposed to the virus--and 4,000 die each year from the cancer that it triggers--only about twenty percent of the target population has been vaccinated.
There's been an intense debate over parents' reluctance to pay the $360 cost, concerns related to providing a vaccine that is associated with sexual activity on the part of their daughters and fear that the new vaccine could present unexpected side effects. Slate covered the pros and cons in an article that also underscored that new studies continue to report that the vaccine is safe.
- read the report from the Wall Street Journal
ALSO: Officials in New Zealand say that allergic reactions to the HPV vaccine have been very rare. Report