Cervarix Vaccinations Should be Recommended for Girls and Women, Government Panel Says

Women and girls as young as 11 should receive the vaccine Cervarix to guard against the most common causes of cervical cancer, a federal advisory panel has ruled.

Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in girls and women for treating strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that most commonly cause cervical cancer. The vaccine will compete with Gardasil, the Merck & Co. vaccine that not only treats HPV to prevent cervical cancer in women and girls, but also fights genital warts in boys and men between the ages of nine and 26.

Gardasil is the controversial series of injections that has been linked to at least 47 deaths since it was approved in 2006. An estimated 40 million girls and women have received the shots, which also have been found to cause fainting spells, severe allergic reactions, and a rare but devastating paralyzing disease called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Because of these serious side effects in Gardasil users, many have questioned giving the shots to girls as young as 11, since HPV is most often transmitted from person to person through sexual conduct.

Panel Favors Cervarix Vaccinations

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on matters involving vaccinations, has recommended that Cervarix be used in girls and women, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Such recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services commonly mean the government adds the shots to the list of recommended vaccinations children and others should receive to remain healthy.

The votes of confidence also most often result in private-insurance companies agreeing to pay for the shots. The panel recommendation still must be finalized and adopted by the government before it takes effect.

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