Merck/MSD announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that boys 11 to 12 years old be vaccinated routinely with GARDASIL [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] to help prevent anal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, anal dysplasias and precancerous lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, and genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11. Additionally, the Committee recommended that GARDASIL be administered to males 13 to 21 years of age who have not previously been vaccinated or have not completed the three-dose series, and that the vaccination series can be started at age 9 years at the discretion of their physicians. Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., chief public health and science officer, Merck Vaccines, said, “Today’s ACIP recommendations will help to provide greater access to GARDASIL for males. These new recommendations for use in males mark another important step in helping to protect more people from the HPV-related cancers and disease that GARDASIL is indicated to prevent.”

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111025006830/en/CDC-Advisory-Committee-Immunization-Practices-Votes-Expanded