February 6, 2012

CDC Recommends HPV Vaccine for Boys and Young Men, Hep B Vaccine for Diabetics

It’s official: All males between 11 and 21 years of age should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), a leading cause of oral, genital and anal cancers, according to new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines published February 3 in the health agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. HPV vaccination is also recommended for previously unvaccinated men between 22 and 26 years of age who have compromised immune systems, are HIV positive or have sex with other men.

The CDC is also officially recommending hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination for all adults younger than 60 who have diabetes, as soon as possible after diabetes is diagnosed. In addition, HBV vaccination is recommended at the discretion of health care providers for adults with diabetes who are 60 or older, based on the person’s likely need for assisted blood glucose monitoring, likelihood of acquiring the virus and likelihood of an effective immune response following vaccination.

The published guidelines follow an October 26, 2011, vote by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to recommend major changes in the use of Gardasil, one of the two major HPV vaccines approved to date. Whereas Merck’s Gardasil has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for boys and young men ages 9 to 26, based on data concluding that it protects against 90 percent of genital warts cases, GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix is only approved for the prevention of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions in females.

ACIP also voted to recommend the HBV vaccination for all adults with diabetes who are younger than 60 and who have not previously received the vaccine. The recommendation was based on evidence that people living with diabetes are at increased risk for HBV because of shared testing equipment.

Search: human papillomavirus, HPV, hepatitis B virus, HBV, vaccine, immunization, CDC, ACIP, recommendations, guidelines, MMWR, boys, men, diabetes

Scroll down to comment on this story.

Previous Comments: