The CDC’s ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) has recommended the routine administration of 3-doses of HPV4 vaccine to protect against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). The Committee said the vaccine will not only protect males from some HPV-related conditions, such as genital warts and oral, penile and anal cancers, but will also indirectly protect females by reducing HPV infection risk, a common cause of cervical cancer. A significant proportion of cervical cancers result from vaginal sex with HPV infected males.

Private health insurers usually cover the costs of vaccines recommended by ACIP for routine use. The HPV vaccine, at over $300 for the three doses, is particularly expensive. Families in the USA often pay over that amount when pediatricians present them with their bill.

ACIP recommends that boys aged 11 and 12 years be routinely vaccinated, as well as males from 13 to 21 who have not completed all three doses.

Even though routine HPV vaccines were recommended by ACIP in 2006 for females between 11 and 26 years, the number who have taken their shots is much lower than expected.

The HPV vaccine protects people from sexually transmitted diseases, making its use controversial. As the majority of male cancers caused by HPV are a result of homosexual sex, the theme is bound to become even more controversial.

However, the driving force behind this recommendation and the one for girls years before has been health. A vaccine that can significantly reduce the risk of cancer is what matters. The resistance against the HPV vaccine for girls gradually melted away when it was shown that hundreds of thousands of deaths from cervical cancer would be saved worldwide.

It will cost approximately $140 million every year to vaccinate America’s 11-12 year old boys. Vaccinating those aged from 13 to 21 will be much more expensive.

HPV is the most common STI (sexually transmitted infection) in adults globally. Over 80% of US females will have become infected by at least one HPV strain by the age of fifty years.

After HPV vaccine Gardasil was shown to be effective in preventing genital warts in males, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved it for men and boys in October 2009.

  • Genital warts
  • Cervical cancer
  • Vulvar cancer
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Penile cancer
  • Anal cancer
  • Oropharynx cancer (back of throat, this includes tonsils and base of tongue)
  • RRP (recurrent respiratory papillomatosis) – a condition in which warts grow in the throat. These growths can sometimes block the airway, causing a hoarse voice or troubled breathing.

Written by Christian Nordqvist