The British Columbia Ministry of Health's recent decision to offer the HPV vaccine free of charge for young males who are "vulnerable" and "at-risk" aims to protect more children. The province will now extend the cancer-preventing vaccine to gay and "street-involved" boys.

The Globe and Mail, July 17, 2015

Welcome to the golden era for sensitive teen boys in Hollywood

In a cultural moment when people are panicking about boys, their relationship to violence, and whether they're falling behind girls in school and life, Earl is one of several recent films that are doing something that feels cutting edge: They're exploring boys' interior lives. At least onscreen, we're starting to become more tolerant of varying, broader ideas of masculinity.

The largest review of the available evidence on the quadrivalent, or four-strain, HPV vaccine Gardasil, has found no evidence of any serious short-term or long-term safety issues. Bringing together the findings from clinical trials, post-licensure studies and data presented at scientific meetings but not yet published, the researchers focused particularly on autoimmune diseases, nervous system disorders, anaphylaxis, blood clots and stroke - but none of them is caused by the vaccine, they found.

Forbes, July 15, 2015

GPOnline, July 14, 2015

Officials say currently only 27 percent of Kentucky 13- to 17-year-old girls have received the recommended three doses of the vaccine, and 19 percent of boys have received one dose. The state hopes to increase vaccination rates by 25 percent under an initiative launched last year.

WKYT, July 14, 2015

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, with about 14 million new cases every year. But despite being recommended by the CDC in 2007, HPV vaccination is only required in Virginia, Rhode Island, and Washington, DC.

Vice, July 14, 2015

Nine years after it was first approved in June 2006, the HPV vaccine has had a far more sluggish entree into medical practice than other vaccines at a similar point in their history, according to a report in Tuesday's JAMA. Eight years after the meningococcal vaccine was introduced, according to the JAMA report, it was required for middle school admission in 21 states and the District of Columbia. At the same point in its history, the vaccine against varicella, the virus that causes chickenpox, was required in 38 states and D.C. And 36 states and D.C. required the vaccine against hepatitis B - which, like HPV, is a sexually transmitted infection linked to cancer, in this case liver cancer (though, unlike HPV, it is given to infants, not preadolescents).

By comparison, eight years after it was introduced, just one state, Virginia, and D.C. required the HPV vaccine for middle school enrollment. 

NPR, July 14, 2015

Review of HPV vaccine side-effects

The European Medicines Agency has begun a review of HPV vaccines, looking into possible rare side-effects.

Vaccination was introduced in 2008 for UK girls, to immunise them against the virus that causes cervical cancer. The agency says its review does not question that the benefits of vaccination outweighs any risk. It will focus on rare reports of two things - complex regional pain syndrome and a condition where standing up causes dizziness and rapid heart rate. Both these conditions can occur in non-vaccinated individuals, and "it is considered important to further review if the number of cases reported with HPV vaccine is greater than would be expected", says the EMA.

BBC, July 13, 2015

The anti-vaccine fear-fueled by celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Robert F Kennedy, Jr.-places childhood vaccinations in an impassioned debate (1). What will it take for people to understand that vaccines are necessary and part of preventing illness? New research studies have been published with great support for vaccines; two states have made legislative progress towards ending philosophical and religious exemptions in which individuals can choose not to participate in vaccination programs on the basis of fear and misinformation.

Dentistry IQ, July 12, 2015