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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommended Tuesday routine vaccination of boys ages 11 and 12 with Gardasil, which protects against infection from human papilloma virus. The panel unanimously approved the plan, with 13 votes in favor and one abstention. The panel also advised that vaccinations with Gardasil begin in boys as young as 9 years old. The recommendation, from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, elevates the urgency placed on immunization against HPV, one of the most common sexually-transmitted diseases and a major cause of cervical cancer. Previously, doctors were free to use the vaccine in...

THE HYPOTHESIS Human papillomavirus may increase the chances of heart disease by suppressing an important gene. THE INVESTIGATOR Dr. Kenichi Fujise, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and colleagues. A new study suggests that a common sexually transmitted virus already linked to cancer may also cause cardiovascular disease. Women infected with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, are two to three times as likely as uninfected women to have had a heart attack or stroke, according to a report published on Monday in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology. HPV is known to cause cancer of the cervix,...