Carl Evers, of Hamilton, Ohio, gets an experimental H1N1 Flu vaccine shot for children from Tammy Lewis-McCauley, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, in Avondale, Ohio. (AP Photo/ Ernest Coleman, The Cincinnati Enquirer) **NO SALES** (AP)
A new clinical trial proves that the vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV) called Gardasil, is equally effective in protecting men as it is at protecting women from the virus, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In a sampling of more than 4,000 boys and men at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., Gardasil was more than 90 percent successful in preventing genital lesions caused by HPV, which is the same success rate as women.
Although Gardasil is approved in the U.S. for males and females over the age of 9, recommendations only stand for women to get the vaccine.
The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and are "cause to celebrate the extraordinary potential" of HPV vaccination to improve public health, according to researchers.
In the past, the vaccine has been controversial because of the view that it is an “approval” of promiscuous sexual activity, and the cost of the drug that is nearly $400.
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