Jun 29, 2006 9:12 pm US/Eastern
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Urged For Pre-Teens
by Dr. Mallika Marshall
(CBS4)
A government panel is making some controversial new recommendations on who should be receiving a new cervical cancer vaccine. An FDA advisory panel is recommending that 11 and 12-year-old girls routinely be given the new vaccine, Gardasil.
The vaccine, made by Merck & Co., was approved earlier this month for protecting women from the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer.
The FDA committee said Gardasil shots can be started for girls as young as nine, at the discretion of their doctor. Studies have shown that the vaccine is most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active.
Proponents believe this new vaccine could dramatically reduce the cases of cervical cancer, which kills nearly 4,000 women in the U.S. every year. Opponents have expressed concern that it may make young people more likely to have sex.
The panel is also recommending a "catch-up" vaccination for women 13 to 26 who have not been previously vaccinated.
At this point the FDA panel is not recommending the vaccine to protect young men from HPV. Merck is still conducting studies to see whether it can protect males, and those findings won't be out for another two years.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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