Boys as well as girls WILL get the HPV vaccine, according to new CDC guidelines 

Boys in the US will soon get the same HPV vaccine as girls, health officials have said.

Until now, only females aged between 11 and 12 were eligible to start receiving the jab to protect against human papilloma virus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer.

However, for years cancer research groups have campaigned to vaccinate males since the virus has been linked to penile, anal, mouth, throat and other cancers in men.  

On Tuesday, the CDC updated its official guidelines to recommend that all children be immunized, regardless of gender.

The vaccination has been a source of controversy for years as conservative groups claimed it would encourage promiscuity among young people.  

Boys – like girls – will now get a vaccination to protect against HPV, a sexually-transmitted infection that can cause cancers in both males and females. Until now, the vaccination has only been available for young girls

WHAT IS HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS? 

HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection.

In fact, almost every sexually active man or woman will get it during their lifetime.

It is spread through sex and oral sex with someone who has the virus, regardless of whether they show symptoms.

Many people never show symptoms, and the majority of cases go away without treatment.

However, it can sometimes cause genital warts and/or cancer.

Symptoms can arise years after infection.

Around 99 per cent of cervical cancer diagnoses are related to infections like HPV.

HPV can also cause cancers of the throat, neck, tongue, tonsils, vulva, vagina, penis or anus.

Often, the cancer does not develop until years after a patient was infected with HPV.

Source: CDC 

Health professionals insist there is no logical connection tying the preventative treatment to increasing rates of sexual intercourse.  

Australia rolled out the vaccination for both boys and girls aged over 12 in 2013. In the UK, the vaccination is only offered to girls. 

America’s push to vaccinate boys and girls comes a week after the CDC warned thousands of Americans a year are being diagnosed with cancers that stemmed from HPV – and that could have been prevented by the three-dose vaccine. 

HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection.

While it can be harmless in some people, research has shown direct links between the disease and cancers of the throat, mouth and cervix. 

In America, the jab to protect against it consists of three shots spread over six months.

Catch-up jabs are then available for men up to the age of 21 and for women up to the age of 26. 

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has endorsed the CDC’s recommendation, which comes nine years after the ACS first backed HPV jabs to prevent cancer.

At the time, the vaccine was not approved for use in males and there was insufficient evidence for vaccinations beyond the age of 18.

Since then, studies have added to the evidence, new versions of the vaccine have been licensed for use in the United States, and there have been new immunization recommendations from the CDC.

Studies have shown that the jab is just as effective at protecting HPV-related cancers in males as it is in females.

Those cancers include penile cancer in males, cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer in females, and anal and oropharyngeal cancers in males and females.

Vaccinating males may also provide additional protection to females.  

A summary of the recommendations:

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• All children should start receiving the HPV vaccination from the age of 11 or 12. 
• Optional: the vaccination series can be started beginning as early as age nine.
• Girls under 26 are advised to complete the three-dose series if they haven’t already.
• Boys should complete the series before they turn 21, but males aged between 22 and 26 years old may also be vaccinated if they wish. Gay men aged under 26 are advised to get the jab. 
• Females can get any of the three vaccines currently available, while only two are approved for boys. 

Late vaccination for adolescents who were not vaccinated at the recommended age should be completed as soon as possible, the CDC warns.

Studies show the vaccination at older ages is less effective in lowering cancer risk.

However, the CDC urges all Americans to get immunized to curb the number of preventable cancers that stem from HPV. 

HPV (pictured) is the most common sexually-transmitted infection. While it can be harmless in some people, research has shown direct links between the disease and cancers of the throat, mouth and cervix

‘HPV vaccination has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of cancers and hundreds of thousands of pre-cancers each year,’ said Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of cancer control intervention for HPV vaccination and women’s cancers, and lead author of the report. 

‘It is critical that all stakeholders – families, health care providers, and others – make HPV vaccination a priority, so that prevention of the vast majority of cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers can become a reality.’ 

Forty thousand people are diagnosed with preventable HPV-related cancers every year, the CDC warned in an advisory last week.

The majority of cases (80 per cent) could be avoided with a vaccine.

However, experts warn a misunderstanding about the HPV jab means thousands of people are neglecting to get immunized.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that confusion has led to rocketing numbers of cancers caused by human papilloma virus (HPV).