The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee Recommends Human Papillomavirus Virus Vaccination Vaccine considered highly effective in preventing infections that are the cause of most cervical cancers.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted Thursday to recommend that a newly licensed vaccine designed to protect against human papillomavirus virus (HPV) be routinely given to girls when they are 11-12 years old. The ACIP recommendation also allows for vaccination of girls beginning at nine years old as well as vaccination of girls and women 13-26 years old. HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women.
According to the ACIP's recommendation, three doses of the new vaccine should be routinely given to girls when they are 11 or 12 years old. The advisory committee, however, noted that the vaccination series can be started as early as nine years old at the discretion of the physician or health care provider. The recommendation also includes girls and women 13-26 years old because they will benefit from getting the vaccine. The vaccine should be administered before onset of sexual activity (i.e., before women are exposed to the viruses), but females who are sexually active should still be vaccinated.
"This vaccine represents an important medical breakthrough," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "As a result, these vaccine recommendations address a major health problem for women and represent a significant advance in women's health. It has been tested in thousands of women around the world and has been found to be safe and effective in providing protection against the two types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers."