Gardasil is a new, recently FDA approved vaccine being made by Merck against the two types of HPV or Human Papillomavirus that cause most cervical cancers and the two types that cause the most genital warts. As most experts thought would happen, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended in it's June meeting that Gardasil should be routinely given to girls when they are 11 or 12 years of age. Gardasil can be started as early as age 9 though, and can also be given to women 13 to 26 years old.

This is an important, even though expected step, since recommendations of the ACIP are routinely adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Academy of Family Physicians, and become part of the routine childhood and adolescent immunization schedule.

Related: HPV Vaccine | Menactra | Boostrix | Immunizations | Immunization Quiz