CDC: Boys should receive HPV vaccine
Nurse.com News
Monday October 31, 2011
In a significant step in the effort against complications from human papilloma virus, a committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved recommendations for routine vaccination of males ages 11 and 12 with three doses of HPV4.
The HPV vaccine will afford protection against certain HPV-related conditions and cancers in males, and may also provide indirect protection of women by reducing transmission of HPV, according to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The CDC has had a “permissive” recommendation in place the past two years for the use of the vaccine in boys, but had not issued a “routine” recommendation. The committee’s decision adds HPV shots to the routine childhood immunization schedule pending approval by the CDC, according to Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
In males ages 13 to 21 who have not received the vaccine, the committee recommends using a catch-up schedule of the three-dose vaccine. It maintains the “permissive” recommendation, rather than routine recommendation, for men ages 22 to 26.
Schuchat said the advisory committee increased the level of recommendation in part based on recent studies showing the vaccine can prevent anal cancer, rather than only genital warts, in boys.
Schuchat said only 1.5% of boys receive the HPV vaccination, and expressed hope that the latest recommendation would encourage more boys to receive it. Noting that only 27% of girls have received the required three shots necessary for full protection, Schuchat said a higher rate of vaccination in boys also will give their sexual partners greater protection against cancers of the cervix and other parts of the anatomy, along with genital warts.
Most recently, a study linked HPV to a higher risk of heart disease in women. Tuesday’s recommendation applies to Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, which costs $130 a dose. Some insurance companies cover the cost of the vaccine, and Schuchat said the latest recommendation could persuade more plans to do so.
read more on: http://news.nurse.com/article/20111031/NATIONAL01/310310002
Nurse.com News
Monday October 31, 2011
In a significant step in the effort against complications from human papilloma virus, a committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved recommendations for routine vaccination of males ages 11 and 12 with three doses of HPV4.
The HPV vaccine will afford protection against certain HPV-related conditions and cancers in males, and may also provide indirect protection of women by reducing transmission of HPV, according to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The CDC has had a “permissive” recommendation in place the past two years for the use of the vaccine in boys, but had not issued a “routine” recommendation. The committee’s decision adds HPV shots to the routine childhood immunization schedule pending approval by the CDC, according to Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
In males ages 13 to 21 who have not received the vaccine, the committee recommends using a catch-up schedule of the three-dose vaccine. It maintains the “permissive” recommendation, rather than routine recommendation, for men ages 22 to 26.
Schuchat said the advisory committee increased the level of recommendation in part based on recent studies showing the vaccine can prevent anal cancer, rather than only genital warts, in boys.
Schuchat said only 1.5% of boys receive the HPV vaccination, and expressed hope that the latest recommendation would encourage more boys to receive it. Noting that only 27% of girls have received the required three shots necessary for full protection, Schuchat said a higher rate of vaccination in boys also will give their sexual partners greater protection against cancers of the cervix and other parts of the anatomy, along with genital warts.
Most recently, a study linked HPV to a higher risk of heart disease in women. Tuesday’s recommendation applies to Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, which costs $130 a dose. Some insurance companies cover the cost of the vaccine, and Schuchat said the latest recommendation could persuade more plans to do so.
read more on: http://news.nurse.com/article/20111031/NATIONAL01/310310002
Comments