Gardasil vaccine for HPV

[Guest guest]

There are currently more than 50 potential therapeutic vaccines under development for the treatment and prevention of HPV infection.

Some therapeutic HPV vaccines have shown remarkable ability to shrink cancerous lesions generated by HPV, such as this candidate being developed at s Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/F06/feature1.cfm

The currently available vaccine, Gardasil, is labeled for the prevention of HPV, although its may do more. Although it is labelled for women aged 9 through 26, I have received my second of three Gardasil vaccinations.

The second Gardasil vaccination should be given two months after the first, and the third vaccination six months after the first. This is what Merck says about their Gardasil vaccine.

Will GARDASIL help me if I already have Human Papillomavirus?

You may benefit from GARDASIL if you already have HPV. This is because most people are not infected with all four types of HPV contained in the vaccine. In clinical trials, individuals with current or past infection with one or more vaccine-related HPV types prior to vaccination were protected from disease caused by the remaining vaccine HPV types. GARDASIL is not intended to be used for treatment for the above mentioned diseases.

http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/g/gardasil/gardasil_ppi.pdf

It is not known to what degree Gardasil helps your immune system control existing infections of each type of HPV, but until vaccines are approved which are specifically labelled as therapeutic, Gardasil is the only game in town. For myself the cost of the three Gardasil vaccinations while costly, $140 x 3 = $420, is worth the value received for protection against HPV strains I may not yet have and possible theoretical assistance in controlling any HPV infection I may already have until guaranteed therapeutic vaccines are approved.