A U.S. advisory panel has recommended that boys should get routinely vaccinated against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause certain cancers.
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WASHINGTON: Boys and young men should get vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease that can lead to certain cancers, a U.S. government advisory panel recommended this week.
All boys aged 11-12 should get the HPV vaccine, which is already approved for use in girls and young women, said the recommendations from an advisory committee on immunization practices set up by the he U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The vaccine may offer protection against genital warts and cancers in males, as well as indirectly protect women by reducing the transmission rate of HPV, the report said. And while it's already offered to boys and young men, it should be routinely given before these boys begin engaging in sexual activity.
Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the relatively low level of vaccination among girls was a key reason for the change.
"HPV vaccine is not being highly taken up among teen girls," she said, calling the vaccination rate disappointing. "Male vaccination is most effective when coverage of females is low."
Warding off cancer
The committee also agreed that in addition to reducing the burden on women and girls, the HPV vaccine showed great promise in warding off anal cancer and genital warts among boys and men.
HPV is linked to almost 13,000 cases of cervical cancer yearly in U.S. women, 4,300 of which are fatal, and nearly 6,000 cases of anal cancer and 770 deaths in men. HPV is also suspected of being linked to a rise in head and neck cancers due to its transmission during oral sex.
In November 2006, the Australian Government announced funding for an HPV vaccination program and there is currently an ongoing school-based initiative routinely delivered to girls in the first year of secondary school.
At present, however, there is no such funding for boys to receive the vaccination.
Vaccine options
Merck is the only pharmaceutical company with a quadrivalent vaccine - one which acts against four separate strains of HPV and is the type recommended by the U.S. panel - licensed for use in boys and girls.
Mark Feinberg, chief public health and science officer for Merck, said the recommendations "mark another important step in helping to protect more people from the HPV-related cancers and disease."
Merck's Gardasil was approved for girls and women from age nine to 26 in June 2006 and for males in the same age range in October 2009. It helps protect against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, that cause the most disease. GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine, Cervarix, is a bivalent vaccine and was approved in 2009 for females age 10-25.
HPV
It is important for both sexes to take responsibility for anything sexualy transmited!Also it helps to prevent some types of cancer.Why are there so many trying to turn this into a moral issue is beyond me.