War On Warts » vaccine

CDC Recommends Boys Receive HPV Vaccine

WarOnWarts — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:41:45 +0000

Coverage of the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to expand its recommendation for the HPV vaccine to boys and young men aged 11-21 was widespread, appearing on the three network newscasts, and in national newspapers. The story took up over ten percent of news time. ABC World News (10/25, story 3, 0:30, Sawyer) reported that the committee “recommended boys ages 11 and 12 and young men 13 to 21 be vaccinated. Not just girls, who, as we know, are at risk for cervical cancer.”

On NBC Nightly News (10/25, lead story, 3:00, Williams), NBC’s Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman said that “One of the reasons the parents have backed away from this vaccine in the past is that because it combines three shots spaced out over several months, and sometimes that means compliance is not so good, and insurance companies have backed away from covering it, but the hope today is that the CDC has recommended it, it will be one step forward getting our kids inoculated and having insurance coverage so parents don’t have to bear the cost.”

The CBS Evening News (10/25, story 6, 2:15, Pelley) reported that “experts argue that kids should get” the vaccine early, “before sexual activity and before they develop these diseases like cancer and genital warts. Now for the future, another important thing is that the earlier this vaccine is given, the better the protection, the better the immune response and the better they’re going to be protected against these diseases in the future.”

Adherence to Schedule for HPV Vaccination Series Low

WarOnWarts — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:46:09 +0000

Adherence to recommended schedules for human papillomavirus (HPV) quadrivalent vaccine is relatively low, and even lower among blacks, raising concerns about disease disparity, according to research published online Dec. 13 in Pediatrics.

To determine the level of adherence to the recommended schedule for vaccination and to identify factors associated with completing the three-dose series, Lea E. Widdice, M.D., of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues reviewed data on 3,297 females aged 9 to 26 who initiated HPV vaccination.

Sixty-seven percent of the females self-identified as black and 29 percent as white. The researchers found that more than 50 percent of the doses were received late and fewer than 3 percent were received earlier than recommended. Completion rates by seven and 12 months were 14 and 28 percent, respectively. Completion by seven months was more likely to be achieved in whites, females whose contraception use necessitated intramuscular injections at three-month intervals, and those with private rather than public insurance.

“Adherence to recommended intervals and completion of the vaccine series were low. Lower rates of completion in black patients compared with white patients raises concern that disparities in vaccine completion could exacerbate existing disparities in cervical cancer,” the authors write.

A Vaccine for Boys to Help Girls?

WarOnWarts — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:51:35 +0000

As a parent of a school-age daughter, I haven’t decided what to think about the new cervical cancer vaccine. That’s why I was interested to learn the shot may soon be given to boys primarily to benefit girls.

Merck’s Gardasil vaccine is approved for use in girls and women, ages 9 to 26, to protect them against the human papillomavirus, or H.P.V., which causes cervical cancer. Girls can be vaccinated when they are as young as 9, although it’s recommended for 11- and 12-year-olds, before they are sexually active.

But as my colleague Jan Hoffman reported yesterday in the Sunday Style section of The Times, the vaccine could be approved by 2009 for boys as well. Although Gardasil also protects against genital warts, which are not life-threatening, the primary reason to extend approval to boys would be to prevent them from transmitting the virus to girls, thereby slowing the rates of cervical cancer. The concept is called “herd immunity.”

And the story raises the difficult question: Will parents of sons consent to a three-shot regimen that has been marketed as benefiting girls?

The story talks to parents who have mixed feelings about the idea, questioning whether they would subject their boys to a vaccine that ultimately wouldn’t benefit their son’s health. What would you do? Would you give your son a shot to lower a woman’s risk for contracting cervical cancer? Hypothetically, would you give your daughter a shot that could lower a man’s risk for prostate cancer?

source: NY Times