Sexual Health Alert: HPV Vaccine Gardasil Just as Effective for Men

Gardasil is just as effective in men, study shows (© 2009 Jupiterimages Corporation)

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil is as effective at preventing HPV and genital warts in men as it is in women. According to the CDC, more than 6 million cases of HPV are diagnosed every year in the U.S., and inoculating more boys and men could potentially slow the spread of the sexually transmitted disease. The CDC states that “HPV is so common that at least 50% of sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.”

Gardasil protects against four strains of HPV, two of which cause cervical cancer in women. Consequently, the vaccine has been more targeted toward girls and women between ages 9 and 26, while doctors have remained unclear as to whether it would be equally safe and effective for boys and men. The new study tested “4065 healthy boys and men 16 to 26 years of age, from 18 countries in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial” and found a 90 percent effectiveness rate in protecting against HPV and genital warts. Though men aren’t at risk for developing cervical cancer, contracting HPV can also lead to penile cancer, anal cancer and certain head and throat cancers. In 2009, the FDA also approved Garsadil to vaccinate against anal cancer.

It’ll be interesting to see whether these study results will have an effect on the public controversy surrounding the Gardasil, particularly its use in girls and boys. Some parents, politicians and healthcare providers have moral objections to STD vaccinations at a young age, worrying that it might lead to reckless sexual behavior. Yet from a public health perspective, Gardasil isn’t intended to remove sexual barriers but improve women’s overall long-term health. As Deborah Kotz at the Boston Globe notes, “experts contend that the only way to really slash cervical cancer-causing HPV infections in women — some 80 percent of whom become infected during their lifetime — is to vaccinate both genders.”

Follow Cristen & Molly from Stuff Mom Never Told You on Twitter and Facebook.