It’s Not About Sex, it’s About Cancer

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Merck Pharmaceuticals’ Gardasil 9 vaccine to prevent nine strains of human papillomavirus, more than any previous vaccine. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, which nearly every sexually active person will get in their lifetime. HPV can infect the mouth, throat, and genitals and is the leading cause of a number of cancers, including cervical, anal, and throat. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that HPV is to blame for 95 percent of anal cancers, 35 percent of penile cancers, 65 percent of vaginal cancers, 60 percent of all cancers of the throat, tongue, and tonsils, and nearly all cases of cervical cancer.

In clinical trials the new Gardasil 9 vaccine was 97 percent effective in preventing vaginal, vulvar, and cervical cancers associated with HPV and 79 percent effective in preventing anal cancer. The most common side effects were headaches and pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site. The FDA has approved the vaccine for females aged 9 to 26 and males 9 to 15; because the vaccine prevents but does not treat HPV, it must be taken before people become sexually active.