A federal report said that one in three teenage girls got vaccination shots against cervical cancer but the rates of the vaccine differ dramatically in different states.

Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island had the highest rates where more than half the girls between ages 13-17 got at least one dose each of the three-shot vaccination. Mississippi, Georgia And South Carolina displayed the lowest rates where less than 20 percent got at least one shot.

Gardasil, the vaccine by Merck's came into the market in 2006 and targets the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus causing about 70 percent cervical cancers. This report is first one to list out state wise rates of the vaccine.

Health officials recommended this vaccine for girls as young as 11 because the vaccine would be administered before they are sexually active, this would provide them immunity before they have a chance of being infected for the first time. Though the shots are approved for females aged 9 to 26.

An increase in the teenage vaccination, nationally, for other diseases like meningitis, tetanus and other illnesses was observed. A rise was noticed since 2007 in the percentage of girls who got at least the first dose in the three-shot vaccination program against cervical cancer.

Dr. Melinda Wharton, an administrator of the CDC center that did the research says that money can be one reason why there is so much variation in the price because the thee-dose series costs $390 and Gardasil is the most expensive childhood vaccine.