Immunization against human papillomavirus (hpv): knowledge of parents/guardians

Objective: To analyze the knowledge of parents/guardians about the HPV vaccine. Materials and methods: This is an observational, descriptive and quantitative study, conducted in municipal schools located in Belém-PA, Brazil; from april to june 2019. It consisted by the application of a questionnaire with 18 closed questions divided in two parts. Results: The study consisted of 363 parents/guardians. Most are between 31-40 years old, are female, have completed high school, are single, have 2-3 children, are evangelical and have a family income between 1 and 2 minimum wages. Most parents/guardians have heard about HPV through television. They said HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, transmitted by sex, with the vaccine age range for girls from 9 to 14 years and for boys from 11 to 14 years, indicating 2 doses. Conclusion: Because HPV is associated with the development of cancer, especially uterine cancer and according to the study only 69.1% of children are vaccinated, further studies are needed to better clarify which factors influence immunization or not of children and adolescents against HPV.