80TH LEGISLATURE

HPV vaccination debate broadens

A few lawmakers say vaccinate boys, too

Inoculating schoolgirls against human papillomavirus may not be enough to control the cancer-causing disease, and decision-makers in the Capitol should consider the other sex too, some lawmakers have said.

Gov. Rick Perry's executive order Feb. 2 to require vaccinating sixth-grade girls against HPV, which has proved to cause some forms of cervical cancer, has been criticized by several legislators, who called for more information before vaccinating children. But a few lawmakers said the governor's move should just be a starting point, and they would consider vaccinating boys.

State Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, said vaccinating boys is important for every segment of society.

"Girls are getting it from boys, so boys have to be treated eventually. Once you do that with the vaccine, I think we can eliminate the virus," Farrar said. "We can see the end of a cancer."

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said if trials prove effective, she also could support mandatory inoculation for boys.

Farrar and Van de Putte each wrote proposals that would require vaccinations for girls starting in September 2007, a full year earlier than the governor has mandated. Both Farrar and Van de Putte also said they could be in favor of sponsoring similar bills for boys in the next session.

"It is my hope that if the cancer vaccine for girls is required, Texans will see the benefit, and legislation to require the cancer vaccine for boys would be received more readily," said Van de Putte, a pharmacist whose two daughters have received the first of three doses of the vaccine.

HPV usually produces no symptoms in men, but it can cause genital warts and, in some cases, it has been linked to penile and anal cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Proponents of inoculation have said the vaccine — which is already available for boys in Australia — would protect against infection from four strains of HPV, including the two that cause most cases of penile and anal cancer.

Clinical trials evaluating immune responses in males have been completed and submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, Deb Wambold, a Merck spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Wambold added that the company hopes to have submitted all needed data to the FDA for approval by next year, which could be in time to set the stage for a potential throw-down over HPV vaccines for boys in the 81st Texas Legislature.

"I think it will still be on the front burner," said state Rep. Joseph Deshotel, D-Beaumont, who filed House Bill 1379 on Tuesday that would require the Department of Health Services to distribute a pamphlet with information about HPV.

Deshotel also said he would be supportive of immunizing boys, as long as the decision is left up to parents.

Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody said there has been no discussion among the governor's staff about vaccinating boys, but it is something the governor would consider if it were believed to be a "viable resource to protect boys from developing cancer."

Dr. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal panel of 15 vaccine experts, said he would need more information on the vaccine and its effects on boys to understand the benefit for the entire population or, as he called it, "the herd."

But he said, "A reasonable guess is that it will provide herd protection."

When the committee recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be vaccinated against HPV this summer, several members recommended that boys also be immunized, but the recommendations were never added to the committee's final report because the committee only makes recommendations on FDA-approved drugs, he said.

Rep. Charlie Howard, who filed a bill last week to override Perry's mandate, said he has concerns about safety.

"I would like to know what it does, and what it does not do, and what would it do to their reproductive systems. We got a lot of questions here that we don't know any of the answers to," Howard, R-Sugar Land, said. "I would prefer us to be spending the same amount of money on an abstinence program. The question is: Are we encouraging them to be sexually active?"

drauf@statesman.com