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news.A US government advisory committee on immunization practices has voted to recommend that all US girls and women aged 11 to 26 should receive Merck & Co's cervical cancer vaccine Gardisil as a matter of routine.
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The committee also said that girls as young as nine should receive the vaccine at the discretion of doctors.
Gardasil is designed to prevent the majority of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related clinical diseases, those caused by HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18. HPV types 16 and 18 account for approximately 70% of cases of cervical cancer, whilst HPV 6 and 11 cause approximately 90% of genital wart cases.
In clinical studies, Gardasil prevented 100% of HPV 16- and 18 -related cervical cancer in women not previously exposed to the relevant HPV types.
“Merck is pleased that the ACIP (advisory committee on immunization practices) has endorsed the use of Gardisil to protect adolescent girls and young women from the potentially serious consequences of HPV infection,” said Dr Mark Feinberg, vice president of Policy, Public Health and Medical Affairs, Merck Vaccines.