CDC panel recommends HPV vaccine for men through age 26 and for some older adults

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP, voted unanimously on Wednesday to recommend HPV vaccines for both boys and girls and men and women through age 26.

Previously the CDC recommended that teen girls and young women who had not been adequately vaccinated receive the human papillomavirus vaccine through age 26, but the recommendation for teen boys and young men only went through age 21. The CDC’s recommendation that children start receiving two doses of the HPV vaccine around 11 or 12 years old has not changed.

In a 10-4 vote, the committee also recommended adults ages 27 through 45 who had not been adequately vaccinated make shared decisions with their doctors about getting vaccinated. Adults older than 45 who had not been vaccinated are not advised to do so, since HPV vaccines are not licensed for use in that age group.

The ACIP recommendations won’t be official until they’re approved by the CDC director.

The votes were made during a meeting at the CDC in Atlanta. The committee holds three meetings every year to review the most recent scientific data and vote on making possible updates to vaccine recommendations.

Several mothers and anti-vaccination advocates spoke out against vaccines during the public comment portion of the meeting, referencing concerns around vaccine safety and potential harms.

Human papillomavirus or HPV is a group of more than 200 related viruses, which can spread through sexual contact. In some cases, HPV infection can lead to six types of cancer: cervical, anal, penile, vaginal, vulvar and oropharyngeal (mouth and throat).

In the United States, high-risk HPV infections cause about 3% of all cancers in women and 2% in men, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Worldwide, the impact of HPV-related cancers is greater, with high-risk infections causing about 5% of all cancers globally, according to the institute.

The recommendations for catch-up vaccinations to extend through age 26 “should match” between men and women, Dr. Anna-Barbara Moscicki, division chief of adolescent and young adult medicine at UCLA Health and professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an email.

“The simpler the better,” Moscicki, who was not involved in the ACIP meeting, said in the email.

The vaccine can protect against cancers since it works by preventing HPV infection — and while most people think of HPV’s relation to cervical cancer, “parents often don’t know that HPV oropharyngeal cancers will outnumber cervical cancer” in around five years, she said.

About 10% of men and 3.6% of women have oral HPV, according to the CDC, and HPV is thought to cause 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.

Earlier this month, actress and “Desperate Housewives” star Marcia Cross opened up about her battle with anal cancer.

Cross, 57, revealed her diagnosis in a series of Instagram photos in 2018. Her husband, Tom Mahoney, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2009. Doctors now suspect that Cross’ cancer and Mahoney’s came from the same type of HPV.

The actress told CNN she cares deeply about being able to “educate the public about HPV.”

“In spite of the optics, I care deeply about saving lives,” Cross previously wrote in an email to CNN. “To that end, the important thing to do is to educate the public about HPV. It is so common that nearly every person who is sexually active will get it at some point in their lifetime. HPV can cause cervical and other cancers …. It can take years, even decades to develop.”