HPV Vaccine Approved for Boys but Not Recommended for Routine Use

LA Times: CDC panel OKs use of Cervarix HPV vaccine in girls, Gardasil in boys, by Thomas H. Maugh II:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted today to recommend the use of the Cervarix human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine in girls age 11 and 12. Cervarix was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 16 and acceptance by the ACIP is the next step toward widespread use of the vaccine. The panel had initially recommended that the guidelines say that Gardasil, previously approved by the FDA, and Cervarix were interchangeable. But the final approval noted that Cervarix protects against only two strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer, while Gardasil protects against those two strains plus two other strains that cause genital warts.

The panel also voted that Gardasil "may be given to males aged 9 through 26 years to reduce their likelihood of acquiring genital warts." That statement stopped short of recommending it for boys and men and some experts think that, as a result, insurance companies will not pay for the vaccine for males.

See also: Reuters: U.S. advisers decline to push Gardasil vaccine for boys

The Huffington Post: Cervix Not Required: An Interview with Dr. Adina Nack, by Abby L. Ferber:

Last Friday, the FDA approved the Gardasil vaccine for use in boys and men ages 9 to 26 years old. When I heard this news, I was surprised. My daughter received the vaccine from her physician, and I had always thought of this as a "cervical cancer vaccine." The reality, however, is that this is a HPV vaccine, to guard against the sexually transmitted Human Papillomavirus. Why, however, is it only now being approved for males, when it was approved three years ago for females?

I turned to Adina Nack, Ph.D., professor of medical sociology and sexuality studies at California Lutheran University, for answers. She is the author of the book Damaged Goods? Women Living with Incurable Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Temple Univ. Press, 2008), and her research on STI stigma provides insight into the negative health consequences of Merck's original campaign for developing and marketing a female-only Gardasil. In my email interview with her, she reflects on the recent news.