Protection against cancer Experts now recommend HPV vaccine for boys

Carcinogenic human papillomaviruses: STIKO recommends HPV vaccine for boys too

Since March 2007, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends the HPV vaccine for girls, with the aim of significantly reducing the number of cervical cancer cases. Now the health experts advise to vaccinate also boys against the viruses. The vaccine also protects against various other cancers that affect men.

Viruses can cause cancer

Human papilloma viruses (HPV) are pathogens that can cause inflammation and skin changes, but in the worst case can also cause cancer. The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends the HPV vaccine for girls from the age of nine since 2007. This is intended to significantly reduce the number of cervical cancer cases. Some health experts have been calling for years to recommend the HPV vaccine for boys, as it can protect against genital warts and precursors of penis and anal cancer, among others. One of these experts is the Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen. He told the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) that it was 'high time' for the HPV vaccine to be recommended for boys.

The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) has decided to recommend vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) for all boys aged 9 to 14 years. (Image: esben468635 / fotolia.com)

Vaccination against human papillomavirus also for boys

As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports on its website, the STIKO adopted the following resolution at its 90th meeting on 05 June 2018:

"The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) for all boys aged 9 to 14 years. Recuperation is recommended until the age of 17 years. The HPV vaccine recommendation for girls remains unchanged. "

This recommendation is the basis for a reimbursement by the statutory health insurance companies, explains the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in a press release in which the Nobel Laureate for Medicine Harald zur Hausen was interviewed on the subject.

Harald zur Hausen, former chairman of the DKFZ, has researched the connection between viruses and cervical cancer, thereby laying the foundation for the development of HPV vaccines.

For this he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2008.

Protection against preventable cancers

Zur Hausen had been approved in Germany since the HPV vaccine in 2007, calling not only girls but also boys to vaccinate against HPV.

About the STIKO decision, he said: "That was also high time! There have long been a number of compelling reasons for vaccinating boys as well: The most obvious argument is that in almost all cultures, young men have more sexual partners than women of the same age group. This makes men the most important propagators of the infection. "

In addition, the men benefit from the vaccine because they are not only the carriers, but also the victims of the viruses.

"The vaccine not only protects against cervical cancer, but also against various other types of cancer, which can also affect men, and which are caused by the same HPV types, such as oropharyngeal cancer or anal cancer," said the Nobel Laureate.

"So I can only appeal to the parents of all boys: Seize the opportunity and protect your son and future partners from these preventable cancers," said the expert.

According to the information, about 1,000 cases of cancer in men per year in Germany go to HPV's account.

"In addition to the effective protection against cancer, the vaccine can protect against the widespread genital warts, which are not life-threatening, but very persistent and unpleasant," said Hausen.

Well tolerated vaccines

According to the DKFZ, currently used vaccines are safe and well tolerated.

The most common side effects are - similar to other vaccinations - skin reactions at the injection site such as redness, itching, mild pain and swelling.

Less common may be headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness or hypersensitivity reactions such as difficulty breathing. (Ad)