Gardasil for Boys Not Worth the Costs, Researchers Say

Giving boys shots of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to prevent them from passing the virus that causes the cancer to girls through sex may not be worth the price of doing so on a widespread basis, a new U.S. study has concluded.

Merck & Co., the drug company behind Gardasil, has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve the vaccine for use in boys and men between the ages of 9 and 26 to ward off genital warts triggered by common strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which also are responsible for cervical cancer in females.

The FDA is still considering whether to expand Gardasil’s use to boys and men, according to a Reuters news report.

Gardasil already is approved for women and girls as young as 11 to prevent cervical cancer, but the vaccine has been linked to serious health problems in some of the 40 million females who have received the injections worldwide.

One recent study found that since its approval in 2006, Gardasil has been responsible for at least 47 deaths and thousands of reports of adverse reactions. Gardasil also has been associated with fainting spells, dizziness, and a paralyzing neurologic disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Widespread Vaccinations of Boys Not Cost-Effective

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health set out to determine whether it would make financial sense to require Gardasil vaccinations in boys and men in an effort to control cervical cancer in girls and women.

“Even though it might be beneficial, whether or not the benefits are worth the investment is what we sought to evaluate,” said lead Harvard researcher Jane Kim.

Kim and colleagues used data from clinical trials, population studies, and cost data to develop computer models to simulate the benefits of the vaccine over time, Reuters reports.

After they factored in the benefits of preventing cervical cancers, genital warts and other conditions traced to HPV, they found that vaccinating girls provides a positive value. However, when boys were added to the equation, the benefits of Gardasil vaccinations no longer outweighed the costs, the study said.

The Harvard study appears in the current issue of the British Medical Journal, Reuters said.

The researchers aren’t saying the FDA should not approve Gardasil for vaccinating boys and young men, but only that the FDA should not recommend routine vaccinations of boys and men, because doing so would not make financial sense.

“What our results imply is for the resources expended, there may be better uses and other health interventions that would increase health gains in the population,” Kim told Reuters.

No related posts.