An HPV vaccine for boys? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might advise such a immunization in the near future, based on recent recommendations by a CDC committee.

In late October, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the routine vaccination of boys 11-12 years old with three doses of a vaccine to protect against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) — thus protecting against HPV-related conditions and cancers in men. The recommendation might also provide indirect protection of women by reducing the transmission of the virus through sexual contact, according to the CDC.

The committee’s recommendation is subject to approval by the CDC.

The Human Papilloma Virus is associated with genital warts in both men and women, as well as several forms of cancer, including cervical, vaginal, anal, head and neck cancers.

Since 2006, the CDC has recommended that girls receive the vaccine at age 11 or 12. The vaccination is also recommended for female teens and women up to age 26 who haven’t already received the vaccine.

One form of the vaccine, the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, has been approved for use in boys and young men since 2009, although there was no formal recommendation. CDC recommendations are not mandates.

The new CDC committee recommendation suggests that males could be vaccinated as young as 9 and as old as 21, with 11-12 years old being the optimal age for vaccination.

During a press briefing Oct. 25, Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, noted that there has been a “disappointing uptake among teen girls” and that “there is also the potential that vaccinating boys will reduce the spread of HPV. …”

Schuchat said the CDC “typically does adopt” recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.