The controversial HPV vaccine has been making only slow progress in the U.S. Despite the fact that half of all girls are exposed to the virus--and 4,000 die each year from the cancer that it triggers--only about twenty percent of the target population has been vaccinated.

There's been an intense debate over parents' reluctance to pay the $360 cost [1], concerns related to providing a vaccine that is associated with sexual activity on the part of their daughters and fear that the new vaccine could present unexpected side effects [2]. Slate covered the pros and cons in an article that also underscored that new studies continue to report that the vaccine is safe.

- read the report [3] from the Wall Street Journal

ALSO: Officials in New Zealand say that allergic reactions to the HPV vaccine have been very rare. Report [4]

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Is Gardasil worth the cost? [6]
Gardasil side effects prompt CDC study [7]
CDC details side effects reported on Gardasil [8]