For the first time, boys in Australia will receive the Gardasil vaccine, a series of shots typically given to high school-aged girls to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which can lead to cervical cancer.Under Australia's National Immunisation Program, boys ages 12 and 13 will get the three-round dose of the vaccine from U.S. drug giant Merck ($MRK). The program for boys is expected to cost $21.1 million over four years and include 870,000 vaccinations, along with an information campaign, a vaccine register and monitoring of adverse reactions, according to ABC News. This is all good news for Merck, which could greatly expand the market for Gardasil if other governments follow Australia's lead and pay for males to get the vaccine.
"It is estimated that a quarter of new infections will be avoided by extending the vaccine to boys," said Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek.Australia leads the way in vaccinating boys; many health experts for years campaigned to broaden the vaccine to males in their first year of high school. HPV infections hit both males and females, and spreads during sex. In recent years researchers have linked a growing number of cancer in men to the virus. Vaccinating both men and women will impact prevalence of anal, penile, vaginal and vulvar cancers, said Steve Hambleton, the president of the Australian Medical Association, as quoted by ABC.Stateside, about 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, according to data from National Institutes of Health. About 6 million more get infected each year. In related news, ABC reported a study that found that HPV vaccinations have reduced the risk of infection even in women who don't get the vaccine, a phenomenon known as herd immunity.
- read the ABC News story about the male vaccinations
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Sunday, 15 July 2012
Human Papillomavirus-Gardasil Vaccine-Hpv Vaccinations-Cervical Cancer-Hpv Infections
Monday, 5 March 2012
Herd Immunity-Flu Vaccines-Vaccinations
Many vaccines do more than just protect individual vaccinated people. They also protect the whole community through what is known as "herd immunity" by cutting the number of sick people carrying the infection. However, this situation doesn't apply with standard flu vaccines because the virus mutates quickly, so vaccinations need to be effectively created anew each year. Vaccination campaigns have to target vulnerable people, rather than trying to vaccinate the whole population.A number of groups are developing so-called "universal" flu vaccines, which rely on targeting conserved parts of the virus--parts that change very little. Researchers at Princeton University are looking at these universal vaccines, and believe that they can be used across the whole population. Because of this, they may actually slow down the mutation rate of the flu virus, and may also be able to create herd immunity, reducing the levels of infection across unvaccinated as well as vaccinated people.Herd immunity only works if vaccinations are widespread, though. To create this level of protection, vaccinations need to be at levels of 83% to 94%, depending on the infection. For many diseases, the levels have dropped below this, and outbreaks of preventable viral infections are out there, putting elderly people, pregnant women and other groups at risk. While there will always be some risks from vaccination, there are also some quite major risks from what may seem to be trivial diseases. Flu isn't trivial for vulnerable people. So, bring on the universal vaccines. -- Suzanne Elvidge (email) read more..