WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a human papillomavirus vaccine for adults age 27 to 45. The vaccine was previously approved for people age 9 to 26. <br /><br />According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 14 million Americans become infected with HPV every year. <br /><br />According to an FDA press release, Gardasil 9 prevents certain cancers and diseases caused by nine HPV types. <br /><br />The vaccine protects against Types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58, which are responsible for a majority of HPV-related diseases.<br /><br />The FDA said it based its expansion on results from a study of 3,200 women age 27 to 45 that found Gardasil 9 was 88 percent effective in prevention of vulvar, vaginal and cervical precancerous lesions, cervical cancer and genital warts caused by the nine HPV types. <br /><br />The vaccine's effectiveness in men was "inferred" from the data on women, in addition to a clinical trial of 150 men ages 27 to 45 who took a three-dose vaccination over a six-month period. <br />According to the FDA, the safety of Gardasil 9 was evaluated in 13,000 men and women. Common adverse reactions included swelling, redness and pain at the injection site and headache.
