Boys may be next target for HPV vaccine; studies ongoing

The shot is now only approved for girls, but many experts would like to see everyone get it.

Elisabeth Righter, MD, a family physician in Dayton, Ohio, has found that the male partners of her patients with cervical cancer are often distraught. Their reaction is not just because someone they love is very sick, but also because the virus that may have caused the illness, the human papilloma virus, may have come from them.

“The men feel awful that they might have given their loved one this infection. They are really upset,” said Dr. Righter, the associate director of the Dayton Community Family Medicine Residency.

It is situations like this that have many experts suggesting that the HPV vaccine, recommended for girls age 9 to 26, should be considered for boys, too. The hope is that a recommendation for universal vaccination would translate into fewer men transmitting the virus to their partners. Men may also be protected from genital warts and their own HPV-related cancers.

“Boys get HPV-related diseases. But, most important, they’re the vector for this virus to women. People need to get this vaccine,” said Bradley J. Monk, MD, associate professor in the division of gynecologic oncology at the University of California, Irvine.

Recommending the vaccine universally, some suspect, could also lead more girls to receive it. Many experts point to the history of rubella vaccination, which also benefits girls more and was initially only recommended for this group, as an example. Efforts against that disease only made inroads when the shot was recommended to everyone. Both sexes were more likely to get the vaccine. The herd immunity achieved also reduced the overall prevalence of the virus in the target population.