Posted by: D V R Poosha, PhD in Abhisarika
12 September 2010
Gardasil vaccine, which is currently given to girls and young women to help prevent infection by four types of human papillomavirus, may be approved for boys as well, soon. An advisory committee from the Food and Drug Administration voted to recommend that the vaccine be made available to boys and young men between the ages of 9 and 26 to help protect against genital warts that are caused by HPV.
Of the four types of HPV that Gardasil offers protection against, two are believed to be responsible for approximately 70 percent of anal and cervical cancers, as well as HPV-associated penile and throat-and-neck cancers. Researchers say that the other two types cause approximately 90 percent of all cases of genital warts.
Merck & Co., maker of the Gardasil vaccine, presented data from three clinical trials on more than 5,400 boys and men from 23 countries and 6 continents.
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