ACIP: No HPV vaccine preference for females, no recommendation for Gardasil in males

News from the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices underway today in Atlanta:

In their morning session, the committee voted to expand its recommendation for HPV vaccination to include the newly-licensed Cervarix, making minor modifications reflecting technical differences regarding the administration of each vaccine.

More importantly, the ACIP expressed no preference between the two vaccines, instead simply noting that both Cervarix and Gardasil are recommended for cervical cancer prevention, while only Gardasil is recommended for prevention of both cervical cancer and genital warts.

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Later this morning, the ACIP approved only a 'permissive statement' regarding vaccination of males against HPV with Gardasil, essentially stating that males may be vaccinated but stopping far short of the routine, universal recommendation common for most vaccines (including HPV vaccination in females). Despite endorsements for a routine recommendation from several liaison groups participating in the meeting, cost effectiveness data for male vaccination and concerns over the use of limited public health resources appeared to steer the committee away from a broad endorsement of male HPV vaccination.

We'll add links to coverage of today's developments as they're posted online.