Good news for older women who are interested in the HPV vaccine, but are too old to receive it. The FDA has agreed to give priority review to Merck's Gardasil to evaluate its use in women ages 27-45. It is currently approved in young women as young as 9 through 26. A decision is expected this summer by the FDA.

What Does This Mean for Women?

This is a huge breakthrough in HPV prevention for older women. The risk of contracting HPV does not decrease with age, only with lifestyle changes (see HPV Prevention). Gardasil is highly effective in preventing two types of HPV known to cause most cases of cervical cancer in women, plus two types that cause genital warts. What Gardasil does not do is treat existing infections. So, if you are currently infected with one of the four strains that Gardasil protects against, it won't treat the condition. But it will protect you against the three other strains of HPV. Women can be infected with more than one type of HPV at a time, but the chances of being infected with all four strains is low.



What You Need to Know About HPV

• What is HPV?
  
• HPV Symptoms
  
• How to Prevent HPV