As collegiettes™, we’ve been told time and time again to keep up with our shots; specifically, the HPV shot, which guards against cervical cancer. But doctors are now saying that guys should also get the HPV vaccine shot.
A CDC advisory panel voted on Tuesday to recommend that young men starting at age 11 should receive the HPV vaccine Gardasil to protect themselves against sexually transmitted forms of human papillomavirus, the cause of most cervical and anal cancers as well as most mouth and throat cancers.
The CDC currently recommends routinely immunizing girls with a three-dose series of vaccinations beginning at age 11 or 12, before they become sexually active. However, this shot has been the object of controverst for more conservative politicians, like Michele Bachmann, who say that the shot endorses promiscuous sexual behavior. According to the CDC, only 49 percent of U.S. girls who should get the vaccine have received the first dose, and only 32 percent have received all three doses. HPV, although the primary cause of cervical cancer, kills 4,000 U.S. women a year. It also causes head and neck cancer, as well as cancer of the penis and anus. The virus is contagious and transmitted by direct contact.
For these reasons, medical experts say that the vaccination is needed more than ever.
“These new recommendations for use in males mark another important step in helping to protect more people from the HPV-related cancers and disease that Gardasil is indicated to prevent,” Dr. Mark Feinberg, chief public health and science officer at Merck, the company that manufactures Gardasil, said in a public statement.
An estimated 75 to 80 percent of men and women are infected with HPV during their life, but most don’t develop symptoms or get sick, according to the CDC. Experts hope that by routinely vaccinating boys, they could be preventing the spread of the virus through sex – making up for the disappointing vaccination rate in girls.
There are two vaccines against HPV, but Tuesday’s vote applies only to FDA-approved Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, which costs $130 a dose. The other vaccine wasn’t tested for men. The recommendation – voted in favor by thirteen out of fourteen members – now goes to the director of the CDC and the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for final approval.
“Today is another milestone in the nation’s battle against cancer,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, an administrator for the CDC who oversees the agency’s immunization programs.