Gardasil helps to prevent against 4 types of the Human Papillomavirus, commonly referred to as HPV. These four types are broken down into two groups. One of which is cervical cancer and the other is genital warts. Even though there are over 40 types of HPV, the Gardasil vaccination helps prevent against two types of HPV that are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases and two other types that lead to 90% of the cases of genital warts.
Gardasil has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to help prevent against cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. Currently it is only recommended for girls ages 9 to 26, who are not yet sexually active.
Since this has only been approved for 9-26 year olds, I wondered if it was protection that could benefit women older than 26, who have been sexually active.
I began to research and determined that the reason the age limit stopped at 26 was because the studies performed only treated females between these ages. No research was performed to determine the success of Gardasil treatment for women over the age of 26 or those younger who were sexually active.
According to the Center for Disease Control, 20 million Americans are currently living with HPV. It is estimated that another 6.2 million people become infected each year. Both men and women can contract HPV. However, at this time, Gardasil is only approved for females.
HPV leads not only to cervical cancer and genital warts, but also vulvar cancer as well as other female cancers. Men who have been infected with HPV can also develop various genital cancers, but these cases are extremely rare.
One thing that I learned in my quest to educate myself about the benefits of Gardasil is that you can have HPV and not even be aware that you have it. Not all of those infected with HPV will exhibit signs of the infection.
Even females who are sexually active can benefit from Gardasil, even if they know they have HPV. The odds that one contracts all four forms of HPV that Gardasil prevents is slim, therefore Gardasil could be effective for adult women, who are sexually active and who might possibly already be infected with one type of HPV- the vaccine would prevent against contracting the others.
Gardasil is given in three shots over a period of six months. Your first shot is given, followed by your second shot two months later. The final shot is given six months after the initial shot. Some insurance companies do not cover this vaccine, some do. However, since the FDA has not approved Gardasil for women over 26, if you are over 26, your insurance will more than likely not cover this expense. The shots run about $400 for the entire series.
I consulted my personal gynecologist and he advised me that there would not be any harm in receiving the shots, but he could not tell me if I would receive the same protection as a female who received the inoculation between the recommended ages of 9 to 26, prior to being sexually active. Considering the benefits of Gardasil helping to prevent cancer, $400 is not much to pay for this type of coverage, even with possible diminished effectiveness in older women. Merck, the manufacturer of Gardasil, has asked the FDA to approve this vaccination for women 27-45 years old. In August of 2008, the FDA determined that Gardasil for women 27-45 was not “cost effective”. Even without FDA approval, women 27 and older should speak with their doctor to determine if they might benefit from receiving the vaccinations.
