Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine

The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine prevents infection with certain species of human papillomavirus associated with the development of cervical cancer, genital warts, and some less common cancers. Two HPV vaccines are currently on the market: Gardasil and Cervarix.

Both vaccines protect against the two HPV types (HPV-16 and HPV-18) that cause 70% of cervical cancers, and cause most HPV-induced genital and head and neck cancers. Gardasil also protects against the two HPV types (HPV-6 and HPV-11) that cause 90% of genital warts. In addition, Gardasil has been shown to prevent potential precursors to anal, vulvar, vaginal and penil and head and neck cancers. HPV vaccines are expected to protect against HPV induced cancers of these areas as well as HPV induced oral cancers.

Public health officials in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States recommend vaccination of young women against HPV to prevent cervical cancer, and to reduce the number of painful and costly treatments for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, which is caused by HPV.

Worldwide, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in adults. For example, more than 80% of American women will have contracted at least one strain of HPV by age fifty.

Although most women infected with genital HPV will not have complications from the virus, worldwide there are an estimated 470,000 new cases of cervical cancer that result in 233,000 deaths per year. About eighty percent of deaths from cervical cancer occur in poor countries. In the United States, most of the approximately 11,000 cervical cancers found annually occur in women who have never had a Pap smear, or not had one in the previous five years. HPV is also the cause of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). CIN is a precursor to cervical cancer, and is painful and costly to treat. It is not known how many women worldwide are diagnosed with CIN.

Since the vaccine only covers some high-risk types of HPV, experts still recommend regular Pap smear screening even after vaccination.

Gardasil has been shown to also be effective in preventing genital warts in males, and use for men and boys was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 16, 2009. On October 25, 2011 the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of CDC made the vaccination recommendation for males 13 to 21 years who have not been vaccinated previously or who have not completed the three-dose series.