Because most cervical cancer cases and some less common malignancies are caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV, area physicians and public health experts were thrilled when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 approved the first vaccine to prevent HPV.
But five years later, local pediatricians and family physicians say they still see scores of teen girls who have not been vaccinated.
It's not just a local problem. A nationwide survey of 13- to 17-year-old girls by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 found that only about half had received at least one dose of the three-part HPV vaccination series.
Illinois was at the low end,...