By Anahad O’Connor, NY Times
Federal health experts are now recommending that all boys be routinely vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV.
The vaccine already has been recommended for girls and young women since 2006 largely to prevent cervical cancer. But health authorities never expressly encouraged the vaccine for young boys, saying only that they “could” receive it to protect against genital warts and certain cancers and to help prevent the spread of HPV.
In releasing a new immunization schedule on Thursday — published in The Annals of Internal Medicine — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used much stronger language, explicitly recommending HPV vaccination for boys 11 to 12 years old and catch-up vaccination for those 13 to 21.
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