Middle- and high-school health education regarding adolescent vaccines and human papillomavirus

We performed a mail-based survey of health education teachers in 6 states with diverse health education environments to better understand health education curricula in secondary schools related to adolescent vaccination and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Of the 198 respondents (response rate 68%), 66% and 71% reported teaching adolescents about recommended vaccines and HPV, respectively. Middle schools were significantly less likely to include these topics in their health curriculum than high schools even though middle schools are generally the school type attended by 11-12 year olds, the preferred target age for adolescent vaccination and HPV prevention activities.