Boys may be included in HPV vaccination scheme

Boys may be included in the schools vaccination programme against the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, it emerged yesterday.

HPV, which causes most cervical cancers in women, is also associated with cancer in male reproductive organs and other cancers in men.

However, HPV vaccines are only available to girls in schools even though gender neutral vaccination against HPV has been shown to be effective in preventing related infections in men.

A spokesperson for the National Immunisation Advisory Committee said “boys may be considered for vaccination in schools in the future”.

The NIAC, established as a committee of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, provides guidance to the chief medical officer in the Department of Health.

The Irish schools vaccination programme uses the quadrivalent vaccine Gardasil, which has now been approved in the EU for a two dose schedule for children aged 9 to 13.

The programme currently uses Gardasil, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur MSD, as a three-dose schedule.

The two-dose schedule would result in significant cost savings for the HSE, if adopted.

The marketing authorisation was granted by the European Commission for the two dose regime and follows positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency last February based on a study that showed the new dosage got an immune response in adolescents comparable to that of three doses in young women.

The results were sustained three years after vaccination with Gardasil.

However, children aged 14 years and over should still receive three doses over a set six-month period.

For children aged nine to 13 years, the three-dose schedule can alternatively be given in accordance with national recommendations and immunisation programmes currently in use.

To date, more than 29m doses of Gardasil, first launched in 2006, have been distributed in western Europe.