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Pediatricians Recommend HPV Vaccine for Boys -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sally Kalson reports on the American Academy of Pediatrics call to immunize all U.S. boys for HPV or the human papillomavirus, to prevent the cancers linked to the STD. "It's no longer enough to vaccinate pre-teen and adolescent girls against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer later in life. A new recommendation...by the American Academy of Pediatrics says that boys in the same age range should be immunized as well, to protect them from HPV-linked cancers...and to prevent them passing the virus on to girls. The academy included the HPV vaccine for boys as part of its revised standard immunization schedule for children and teens. Its inclusion follows a recommendation made in October by the Advisory Committee on Immunization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] in Atlanta. The vaccine is expensive, running about $360 for three doses over a six-month period that would provide full protection. The cost for girls is covered by many private insurance policies because it is part of the routine schedule. Adding boys to the list makes coverage more likely for them as well...HPV immunization has been controversial in some quarters because the diseases it prevents stem from sexual activity: 15,000 preventable cases among women a year, according to the CDC, including cervical, anal, vaginal, vulvar and throat...and 7,000 among men, mostly oral...Some critics have charged that the shots promote promiscuity. But a CDC study on that topic showed no such effect, said Michael Brady, chairman of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and chairman of pediatrics at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio...'Given the amount of cancer in both genders, most people recognize the rationale. Adding males from a cost-effective perspective was the right thing to do.' In 2006, the same CDC panel advocated immunizing females age 11 and 12 up to 26 against HPV, but the rates of those doing so are lagging. Only 45 percen...

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Source: Harvard World Health News - Friday, 3 February


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