Gardasil Vaccinations Drop

Merck & Co. got plenty of flack for the way it aggressively pushed for mandatory vaccinations of young girls with its blockbuster Gardasil. Yet public health officials agreed that the teen-age girls should get Gardasil to help protect against cervical cancer.

Now a study shows that despite the public awareness over the product and cancer risks, only about a third of girls are getting vaccinated.

Washington University School of Medicine tracked vaccination rates for more than 1,700 girls ages 13 to 17 in six states. Only 34 percent received a vaccination for the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cervical cancer. The research is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Almost 75 percent of the girls in the study had health insurance. But girls living in the poorest areas were more likely to get vaccinated because of public health programs. Black and Hispanic girls, who are at high risk of cervical cancer, were as likely as white girls to get the vaccine, the study found. More than 70 percent of the girls in the study were white. The researched tracked vaccinations in Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

Gardasil has been controversial from day one. Some people objected to encouraging vaccines for a sexually transmitted disease, saying it encouraged young girls to have sexual relations. Merck was berated for its efforts to push states to mandate vaccinations for young girls. It also sought expanded use of the vaccine (in October, the Food and Drug Administration OK'd use for treating boys with genital warts).

The drug maker faces other challenges. A second vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Cervarix, was approved for use in the United States in October, giving Merck its first competition for the product. Sales of Gardasil dropped 20 percent last year but still topped $1 billion.