National Immunizations Survey releases annual report

 The National Immunization Survey regarding Teens released its annual report for 2018 which shows Kansas is improving in vaccine rates for HPV and MenACWY and remaining consistent with Tdap. This report is available in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey, which is conducted among teens ages 13 to 17, monitors the vaccines received by adolescents, specifically HPV, MenACWY and Tdap.*

“In 2014, Kansas had the lowest coverage in the nation for the HPV vaccine with only 34.4 percent of respondents reporting one or more doses received,” said KDHE Secretary Lee Norman, MD. “I’m very pleased to report that Kansas is now at 62.3 percent coverage in 2018, up significantly from 52.4 percent in 2017.”

Activities that have contributed to the increase in HPV Vaccination coverage, include:

• Education for vaccine providers throughout the state during Vaccines For Children program site visits
• Education provided at Kansas Immunization Conferences
• Development of HPV Toolkit by the Immunize Kansas Coalition funded by the KDHE
• Multiple partner organizations conducting efforts to increase awareness and importance of the HPV vaccine
• Focus on the importance of provider recommendation to patients to receive the vaccine

Kansas has seen an average increase in HPV coverage of 6.3 percentage points annually since 2014 while the national average increase has been 4.4.