As part of a revised standard published this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics says boys should be routinely vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that is spread through sexual contact. Although there are dozens of types of HPV, vaccines can protect both male and females against some of the more common types that can lead to disease and cancer.
Routine vaccination of boys against HPV will not only stop them giving the virus to girls and thereby help reduce their risk of cervical cancer, but it will also protect the boys themselves against certain other cancers that arise from becoming infected with HPV during oral and anal sex, says the doctors’ group.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say it is important that people receive the HPV vaccine before they become sexually active. They are most effective when given at age 11 or 12, which is also when antibody production peaks in the body.
HPV vaccination also protects future sexual partners who have not had the shots.
In their new recommendation, the AAP says all boys aged 11 or 12 years of age should receive the HPV vaccine in a three-dose series. However, the series can also start as early as age 9.
The new recommendation is part of the AAP’s revised 2012 standard immunization schedule for children and adolescents. The schedules, which reflect current recommendations for use of FDA-licensed vaccines, have been approved by the AAP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Academy of Family Physicians. They are published in the 1 February online issue of Pediatrics.
The updated schedules cover children age 0 to 6, from 7 to 18, and a catch-up schedule for children with late or incomplete vaccinations.
The schedules also include major changes in two other vaccines: meningococcal, and influenza.
Children as young as 9 months can now receive the meningococcal vaccine if they are residents or travelers to countries with epidemic disease or at increased risk of developing meningococcal disease. Routine immunization with meningococcal vaccine should start at age 11, through 12, with a booster shot at age 16.
Children aged from 6 months to 8 years should have two doses of influenza vaccine if they did not receive at least one dose in 2010-2011. Children who did get at least one dose last season need one dose for 2011-2012.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD