Feb 29 2012
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended boys -; not just girls -; be vaccinated against HPV, though questions about its cost-effectiveness remain.
NPR's SHOTS blog: Pediatricians Recommend HPV Vaccination For Boys
The vaccination is expensive. Full immunization takes three shots (either with Merck's Gardasil or GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix), which run about $100 or more each. The cost-effectiveness of vaccination for boys is an issue. The recommendation notes that "a range of assumptions," including the vaccination rates for girls, can affect how much each prevented case of illness costs (Hensley, 2/26).
Medscape: HPV Vaccine Recommended for Boys in New AAP Guidelines
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published new guidelines for the use of the human papillomavirus vaccine and, for the first time, has specifically recommended use of the vaccine in adolescent boys as well as girls. ... HPV infection has been associated with increased risk for cervical cancer, anal cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer (Fox, 2/27).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente. |