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HPV vaccine for boys to prevent cancerJust dug down to find the transcript of the USA CDC press release about its…

HPV vaccine for boys to prevent cancer

Just dug down to find the transcript of the USA CDC press release about its recommendation for all boys to get the HPV vaccine. Just wanted to highlight a couple of points from what they said.

"The committee did feel the burden of disease in males justified routine vaccination. They thought that there was likely to be additional benefit to girls and women by reducing the spread of the virus but they did think that the burden of disease in males alone was sufficient to recommend the vaccine."

This to me is key that the CDC recognises that the threat of cancer for men is high enough to justify a costly vaccination campaign. This is not just about protecting women (who are recognised as at a higher risk of fatal cervical cancer). This is also about protecting men which I do see as an issue of equality.

"The quadrivalent vaccine that Merck produces, Gardasil, has been approved for use in males by the FDA. These recommendations for males only apply to the quadrivalent vaccine. The bivalent vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline, Cervarix, has not been licensed for use in males and we understand the company isn't intending to file for licensure."

In the UK girls are given Cervarix (which does not protect against genital warts like Gardasil) this decision was reportedly made on it being cheaper. But it has been seen that cervarix is less contentious because its failure to prevent genital warts. This is seen as less contentious because of the number of complaints people have voiced about vaccinating against genital warts leading to people being encouraged to have more unsafe sex. If only Gardasil has been approved for men we may find the UK adopting this better vaccine for men and women so that they are only ordering one type. We can hope

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