June 9, 2006 -- Vaccine Will Protect Against Some Kinds of HPV

A vaccine to protect women from four types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) known to cause most cervical cancers and genital warts was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday for use in females 9 to 26 years of age. The vaccine, Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc., must be administered in three injections over a six-month period and is expected to protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause approximately 70 percent of cervical cancers, and against types 6 and 11, which cause approximately 90 percent of genital warts. Because females are not protected by the vaccine if they have become infected with HPV before vaccination, the drug is recommended for young girls before they become sexually active. Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and over half of all sexually active men and women are believed to have become infected at some time in their lives. Often the body’s own defense system clears the infection, but some types of HPV can cause abnormal cells on the lining of the cervix that years later can turn into cancer. "The vaccine is a significant advance in the protection of women’s health in that it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers," said FDA Acting Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. Further information is available at http://www.fda.gov/cber/products/hpvmer060806.htm.