According to a panel from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), boys as young as 9 years old and girls as young as 11 years old should be immunized against HPV, a disease that is contracted through sexual activity and sometimes results in cancer.

The panel said that every male from nine-year-old boys to 26-year-old men should be vaccinated, and that every female from 11 to 26 should also get the vaccination as soon as possible.

Many parents and guardians are against the vaccinations since children so young would not be engaging in the sexual activity that could result in the contraction of HPV, and that giving them the vaccination would require discussions not appropriate for preteen children. The panel is suggesting vaccinations for boys because of the chance of anal cancer spread through homosexual sex.