HPV Vaccination Recommendations

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has set the following guidelines for use of the HPV vaccine:

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ACIP recommends routine vaccination of 11- and 12-year-old girls with three doses of quadrivalent (targeting four viral types) HPV vaccine. The vaccination series can be started in girls as young as 9. It is given in a three-dose schedule with the second and third doses administered two and six months after the first dose. The vaccine, given in a dose of 0.5 ml, is administered intramuscularly, preferably in the deltoid muscle, and should be well-shaken before administration.

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Vaccination is also recommended for females ages 13 to 26 years who have not been previously vaccinated or who have not completed the full series. Ideally, the vaccine should be administered before potential exposure to HPV through sexual contact; however, females who might have already been exposed to HPV should be vaccinated.

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Sexually active females who have not been infected with any of the HPV vaccine types would receive full benefit from vaccination. Vaccination would provide less benefit to females if they have already been infected with one or more of the four vaccine HPV types. it is not possible for a clinician to assess the extent to which sexually active people would benefit from vaccination, and the risk of HPV infection might continue as long as a person is sexually active.

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Pap testing and screening for HPV DNA or HPV antibody are not needed before vaccination at any age.