WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2006--Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend that girls and women 11 to 26 years old be vaccinated with GARDASIL® (Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine) to prevent cervical cancer, precancerous and low-grade lesions, and genital warts caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16 and 18. The Committee recommended that GARDASIL be administered to 11- and 12- year-old females and to females aged 13 to 26 who have not previously been vaccinated, and that nine- and 10-year-old females can be vaccinated with GARDASIL at the discretion of their physicians. The ACIP stated that Pap and HPV screening prior to vaccination are not necessary. The ACIP also recommended that females can receive GARDASIL regardless of whether they have or previously had an abnormal Pap test, a positive HPV test or genital warts.
