CDC panel recommends HPV vaccine for
girls, women.
Last Update: 11:58 AM ET Jun 29, 2006
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the
Centers for Disease Control on vaccination matters said the vaccine, Gardasil by
Merck & Co. (MRK), should be added to the routine vaccination schedule for
children and adolescents. The vote makes it highly likely that the vaccine will
be covered by private insurers. The panel is expected to vote soon to add the
vaccine to a federal program that offers reduced or free vaccines to children.
HPV VACCINE RECOMMENDATION
The
panel also said that doctors could vaccinate girls as young as nine and that
girls and women ages 13 to 26 should also receive the vaccine even if they have
already become sexually active. Ideally, girls and women would receive the
vaccine before becoming sexually active.