A CDC panel voted today to include Gardasil, an HPV vaccine that protects women from developing cervical cancer, as a routine shot to be given to 11 and 12 year old girls. There are about 4 million 11-12 year-old girls in the USA.

The panel, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, consists of outside specialists. The CDC tends to go along with what the panel advises.

This means pediatricians will adopt Gardasil as standard practice for pre-teen girls, health insurers will have to fund it. Total US sales of Gardasil are expected to reach approximately $3 billion per year for Merck, the makers of the vaccine.

Gardasil protects women from HPV (human papillomavirus), a sexually transmitted virus, which is responsible for the majority of cervical cancers worldwide. Cervical cancer is the second biggest cancer killer of women.

Merck had wanted girls as young as nine to receive Gardasil. The panel decided on a slightly older age, as younger girls are receiving other shots. By vaccinating 11 and 12 year-old girls, the vaccine will be administered before they become sexually active. Gardasil offers protection before a girl is exposed to HPV.

Two HPV strains are responsible for causing 70% of all cervical cancers. Gardasil protects females from these two strains. It also protects against two other strains that are responsible for most genital warts.

The treatment consists of three injections, spread over six months. The whole course costs $120.

About 300,000 women worldwide die of cervical cancer each year. Gardasil could save the lives of 200,000 women each year.

At first, when news of the vaccine’s potential came out, there was some opposition. Some people felt that girls would become sexually active at a younger age. However, the opposition ebbed as soon as people realised how many lives could be saved.

Gardasil Web Site for Patients and Caregivers
Gardasil Web Site for Health Care Professionals

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today