New Study Supports CDC Recommendation for Two-Dose HPV Vaccine in Children

A new study conducted at the Boston Medical Center (BMC) is the first to support new recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted this year for a two-dose HPV vaccine to prevent genital warts in kids younger than 15 years old. The study looked at nearly 400,000 girls from around the country to find the rate of genital warts based on the number of vaccine doses received. Findings showed that receiving two or three doses of the vaccine was effective at providing protection against genital warts compared with one dose or not receiving the vaccine. According to Rebecca Perkins, MD, obstetrician at BMC and the study’s leader author, “This study validates the new recommendations and allows us to confidently move forward with the twodose schedule for the prevention of genital warts.” However, said Dr. Perkins, “The data supporting a two-dose schedule is encouraging, but it only reports on genital warts, not cervical dysplasia or cancer outcomes. Collecting that long-term data is paramount.”