CDC Changes Recommendation for HPV Vaccine for Children

Since 2006 and 2011, respectively, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended girls and boys receive three doses of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine before they turn 15. However, in October, ACIP changed its recommendation to only two doses of the vaccine prior to age 15. ACIP’s decision was based on results of numerous studies showing that prior to age 15, the two-dose vaccine was just as protective, and even slightly more so, than the three-dose series. But that effectiveness relied heavily on when the second dose was given; when the booster was given only a couple of months after the first shot, the two doses were not as effective, according to Lauri Markowitz, MD, an epidemiologist with the CDC. According to ACIP, while the two-dose schedule is slightly less effective, the difference is not enough to overcome the financial advantage of getting one less shot.

The HPV vaccine is designed to ward off infection by certain strains of the HPV virus that cause cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers in women; penile cancers in men; and oropharyngeal and anal cancers, as well as genital warts, in both men and women. However, it needs to be administered before a person becomes sexually active for it to be most effective. ACIP recommends children receive their first dose at age 11 or 12, but it can be given as young as 9 years old and is recommended at that age for children who are in a potentially abusive situation.