State to offer free cervical-cancer vaccine

The HPV vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, will be available free to girls and young women in Washington state, health authorities said Wednesday.

About 28,000 doses of the human papillomavirus vaccine, targeted for girls 11 and 12, have been shipped to public and private clinics across the state, said state Secretary of Health Mary Selecky.

About 14,500 doses of a vaccine against rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhea and nausea in babies, are also being made available free.

The state Department of Health's Universal Childhood Vaccine program is financing the immunizations with a combination of federal and state funds: $12 million for HPV and $10 million for rotavirus. The shots themselves will be free, but physicians and clinics are allowed under federal law to charge up to $15.60 per shot for administering them.

"The HPV vaccine is a breakthrough in cancer prevention," Selecky said Wednesday in a news conference. "It is most effective before a girl becomes sexually active."

The vaccine, called Gardasil, works against four types of the sexually transmitted virus. Two of the types have been found to cause 70 percent of all cervical-cancer cases. The other two types cause 90 percent of all cases of genital warts.

The HPV vaccine is given as three doses in a six-month period. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends it for girls and women ages 9 through 26, but especially at 11 or 12. The Washington state vaccine program will pay for the HPV vaccine for girls through age 18.

The rotavirus vaccine is given in three doses to babies in the first six months of life. It is available free to Washington children through that age.

Funding was approved by the Legislature for about 94,000 doses of HPV vaccine and about 150,000 doses of the rotavirus. Health authorities will monitor demand to gauge how much more might be needed.

For now, there are no plans to make either vaccine mandatory for school entry, Selecky said. The State Board of Health usually waits about two years before considering whether to require new vaccines for schools while it observes the demand for the immunizations and their long-term safety.

The HPV vaccine has stirred controversy in other states that require it for school entry. This week the University of Michigan released results of a national poll showing 44 percent of parents favor a school mandate for the vaccine.

Selecky said 63 women in Washington died of cervical cancer in 2005. In King County, an average 15 women a year die of the disease, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County.

Warren King: 206-464-2247 or wking@seattletimes.com