Feb 27
Guest post by Mary Ann Martin
As National Cancer Prevention Month draws to a close, Mary Ann Martin shares the story of her husband’s battle with HPV-associated anal cancer and explains why she advocates for the vaccine that can prevent the cancer that took her husband’s life.
Colorado native Tracy Jimenez was diagnosed with cervical cancer just four days after her 46th birthday on October 26, 2016. A single mother of three, grandmother to five, and surrogate mother to a 24-year-old nephew with cerebral palsy, Tracy had her hands more than full. Her busy life and endless responsibilities made her life-altering cancer diagnosis even more terrifying. In an interview with the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, Tracy explains how cervical cancer caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection impacted her life, and how it’s driven her to speak up for the vaccine that has the power to prevent cervical and other kinds of cancer: the HPV vaccine.
Guest post by Allyson Rosenblum
In honor of National Cancer Prevention Month, Allyson Rosenblum shares how she’s rallying teens across the U.S. to prevent cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Read more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its annual report on adolescent vaccination coverage.
While it’s encouraging to see slight improvement in vaccination rates, too many Colorado teens remain under-vaccinated against serious infectious diseases. Rates are particularly low for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination series in Colorado – only 52.1 percent of girls and 44 percent of boys completed the HPV series. Nationally, just 39.1 percent of teens have received the recommended second dose of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY), which means they might not be protected against meningococcal meningitis. Additionally, in 2015, less than half of teens 13 through 17 years of age received the influenza vaccine.
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