According to a new analysis, vaccinations against certain cancers are declining sharply among children and adolescents. This is particularly clear among 15- to 17-year-old boys, as shown by an evaluation by the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit among its insured persons, which is available to the German Press Agency. Here, first vaccinations against human papilloma viruses (HPV) fell by 42 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. In the entire age range from 9 to 17 years, there was a decrease of 31 percent for boys and a decrease of 21 percent for girls.
Human papilloma viruses (HPV) are transmitted sexually and can cause, among other things, cervical cancer and cancer of the oropharynx. The Standing Vaccination Commission recommends vaccination for girls and boys aged 9 to 14. If it has not been done by then, she advises doing so by the age of 17. Two or three doses of vaccine are required at a time.
Doctors: “Worrying”
The professional association of pediatricians describes the vaccination rate as “worryingly low”. President Thomas Fischbach said he could only speculate as to how this massive decline could be explained. “The HPV vaccination has certainly received less attention at times due to the high media attention surrounding the corona vaccination. I can also observe a slightly increased skepticism about vaccinations, triggered by the many discussions about the supposed consequences of the corona vaccination.” This definitely also has an impact on the HPV vaccination.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, over 6,000 women and around 1,600 men in Germany develop HPV-related cancer every year. Vaccination can protect against this to a large extent. According to the DAK report, around 10 percent of 9 to 17 year olds received a first vaccination against HPV in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 it was only 7.4 percent.
Anonymized insured data from 794,000 children and young people up to and including the age of 17 were analyzed from 2017 to 2022.