The United States Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the expanded use of a HPV vaccine to include women and men aged 27 through 45 years.

Gardasil 9 is used to prevent certain cancers and diseases caused by the nine Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types covered by the vaccine but previously applied only for those aged nine through 26 years.

Every year about 14 million Americans become infected with HPV and about 12,000 women are diagnosed with and about 4,000 women die from cervical cancer caused by certain HPV viruses, according to the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a study in approximately 3,200 women 27 through 45 years of age, followed for an average of 3.5 years, Gardasil was 88 percent effective in preventing symptoms related to HPV types covered by the vaccine.

Effectiveness of Gardasil 9 in men 27 through 45 years of age is inferred from the data described in women 27 through 45 years of age, as well as efficacy data from Gardasil in younger men (16 through 26 years of age) and immunogenicity data from a clinical trial in which 150 men, 27 through 45 years of age, received a three-dose regimen of Gardasil over six months.