Health misinformation continues to be a rising concern not only within Canada, but globally as well. For the purpose of this post, vaccine hesitancy related to the HPV vaccine will be highlighted. In Canada, 75% of people who engage in sexual activity are expected to contract an HPV infection at some point in their lifetime, if they are not vaccinated (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2015). While completing a search on Twitter, I came across the following tweets related to the HPV vaccine:
The first tweet implies that presuming young people are sexually active is inaccurate, which is quite the assumption itself. As a public health nurse working within the sexual health and harm reduction program, we come across many young individuals seeking STI testing who have not previously received the HPV vaccine at the recommended age. This is often due to parents opting their children out of receiving this particular vaccine. With a quick search of PubMed I found a few articles that were incongruent with the claims made within these particular tweets. The article stated that over time, the likelihood of engaging in sexual activity grows, but it is extremely difficult to forecast and is often underestimated by both parents and healthcare professionals (Pierre-Joseph et al., 2014). One article mentions that parents who are hesitant about vaccinations are more likely to search for information available on the internet than parents who are not hesitant (Calo et al., 2021). This is quite a significant public health implication, given the amount of misinformation that is available on the internet. Tweet #2 indicates that parents should not be concerned about their teenager’s acquiring an HPV infection and possibly, cervical cancer. One study indicates that two HPV strains, HPV16 and HPV18, have been completely eliminated in regions where HPV vaccination rates are high (Constable et al., 2022). According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), the year 2020 saw an estimated 604 000 new cases of cervical cancer in the world, making it the fourth most frequent malignancy among women. A staggering 95% of the cases of cervical cancer are brought on by the human papillomavirus (HPV) (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Due to these statistics, it is extremely important that parents have access to reliable and accurate information in order to make an informed choice when it comes to vaccinations, particularly the HPV vaccine. Given the unpredictable nature of teenage sexual debut, it is crucial that this immunization be given as soon as possible.
References:
Calo, W. A., Gilkey, M. B., Shah, P. D., Dyer, A. M., Margolis, M. A., Dailey, S. A., & Brewer, N. T. (2021). Misinformation and other elements in HPV vaccine tweets: an experimental comparison. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 44(3), 310–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00203-3
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Cervical cancer. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer
Constable, C., Ferguson, K., Nicholson, J., & Quinn, G. P. (2022). Clinician communication strategies associated with increased uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine: A systematic review. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 72(6), 561–569. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21753
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2015). Update on the recommended Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine immunization schedule. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/update-recommended-human-papillomavirus-vaccine-immunization-schedule.html
Pierre-Joseph, N., Perkins, R. B., Clark, J. A., Apte, G., Vercruysse, J. L., Sumner, J. J., Wall-Haas, C. L., & Rosenquist, A. W. (2014). Missed opportunities for HPV vaccination in adolescent girls: a qualitative study. Pediatrics, 134(3)
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